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Health & Science4h 10m ago

Dr. Toni Gabaldón and his team used the MareNostrum supercomputer to reconstruct the genetic origin of the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes.

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Barcelona

Who
Dr. Toni Gabaldón, Moisès Bernabeu, Saioa Manzano-Morales, Marina Marcet-Houben, Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), IRB Barcelona
What
Dr. Toni Gabaldón and his team used the MareNostrum supercomputer to reconstruct the genetic origin of the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes.
When
Thu, 11 Jun 2026 22:52:30 GMT · 4h 10m ago
Where
Barcelona ·
Why
The study challenges the idea that cellular complexity emerged from a single evolutionary encounter, pointing instead to a gradual process of interactions among different microorganisms that lasted for millions of years.
The Frontline Impact

How this affects you

This research provides a new perspective on a key episode in the history of life, reshaping our understanding of how complex cells, which form all animals, plants, fungi, and protists, came to be. It suggests that multiple microbial groups and even giant viruses played a role in the origin of eukaryotic cells, not just the mitochondrion.

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