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Health & Science3h 16m ago

A new study led by Dr. Toni Gabaldón published in Nature suggests that the origin of complex cells was a longer, more gradual, and more collaborative process involving multiple bacterial groups and giant viruses, rather than primarily an archaeon and the bacterium that became the mitochondrion.

Barcelona, Spain

Who
Dr. Toni Gabaldón, Moisès Bernabeu, Saioa Manzano-Morales, Marina Marcet-Houben, IRB Barcelona, Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS)
What
A new study led by Dr. Toni Gabaldón published in Nature suggests that the origin of complex cells was a longer, more gradual, and more collaborative process involving multiple bacterial groups and giant viruses, rather than primarily an archaeon and the bacterium that became the mitochondrion.
When
Sat, 13 Jun 2026 16:40:09 GMT · 3h 16m ago
Where
Barcelona, Spain ·
Why
The study utilized computational molecular archaeology with supercomputers and genomic data to reconstruct gene and protein families of the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA), detecting signals from various microorganisms.
The Frontline Impact

How this affects you

This research expands our understanding of how complex eukaryotic cells, which make up all animals, plants, fungi, and protists, evolved, highlighting a more intricate history of microbial alliances and genetic exchanges.

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