The origins of life on Earth have long fascinated scientists, particularly the nature of the last universal common ancestor ...

An exciting new study reveals that life on Earth might have already flourished within a few hundred million years of the ...

Eukaryotic cells are more complex than prokaryotic ones because of specialized organelles. Learn how ancient collaborations between cells gave eukaryotes an important energy boost.

Modern nucleated (eukaryotic) cells use specialized protein scaffolds to ensure chromosomes segregate properly into daughter cells, with each daughter receiving one copy of each chromosome ...

To find an answer to this two-billion year old mystery, scientists look at genomes of modern prokaryotes and eukaryotes to find genes for living without oxygen and nutrient metabolism with hydrogen.

Co-author Professor Davide Pisani said: “Our study showed that LUCA was a complex organism, not too different from modern prokaryotes, but what is really interesting is that it’s clear it ...

While simple prokaryotic bacteria formed within the first billion years of the Earth, the origin of eurkaryotes, the first cells with nuclei, took much longer. Dating back to between 1.7 and 2.7 ...

Prokaryote was a figment of imagination that got canonized in the institution of biology rather than the question remaining open — what are those little things? That’s an interesting question.

The new study stakes out a more moderate position, suggesting that beyond a critical cell volume, mitochondria and perhaps other features of modern eukaryotic cells would have been necessary to ...

A newly discovered life form could help resolve one of the most contentious conundrums in modern biology. All organisms on Earth are classified as either prokaryotes, which have simple cells, or ...