Scientists are calling Luca 'the ancestor of all living things'

[rug]

Scientists have generated a genetic portrait of a four-billion-year-old organism that they say may be the oldest common ancestor of all living things.



Scientists speculate that Luca, a four-billion-year-old organism, may have originated in a hydrothermal vent.

By Joseph Dussault, Staff
JULY 26, 2016

What do humans, insects, and algae all have in common? Very little, except for Luca.

Evolutionary biologists have revealed a detailed genetic profile of Luca, the Last Universal Common Ancestor of all living things. A new study, published Monday in the journal Nature Microbiology, provides insight into where and how this ancient precursor may have lived.

There are three basic types of living organisms on Earth: eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea. Eukaryotes include all plants and animals. Bacteria and archaea are both single-celled, asexual organisms with no nucleus or organelles, but have distinct genetic and biochemical backgrounds.

Researchers say that all three groups can be traced back to Luca, a single-celled organism that lived around 4 billion years ago. It is commonly thought that Luca’s descendants diverged into bacteria and archaea, and that eukaryotes emerged later. The ancestor’s physiology and habitat were mostly left to speculation, until now.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0726/Scientists-are-calling-Luca-the-ancestor-of-all-living-things

http://www.nature.com/articles/nmicrobiol2016116

[panader0]

1. Luca swims with the fishes

[rug]

2. I hope he's near a hydrothermal vent.

[jpak]

3. My name is LUCA

[joeybee12]

4. I'd read this...fascinating...knr

[Rex]

5. Wow, that is amazing. 4 billion years ago the earth was a much more violent place.

I am surprised it goes back that far. Life is amazing.

[AlbertCat]

6. Scientists are calling Luca 'the ancestor of all living things'

" Some scientists have postulated that life itself originated in this type of environment. Martin has argued that Luca may not just be the common ancestor, but one of the very first living organisms."

Hmmmmm.... the headline seems a little sensational. Interesting stuff tho'.

[Ilsa]

8. But but but where's the rib?

And how did Noah get it on the Ark?

[benld74]

17. And if Noah put it on the Ark wouldnt that automatically mean there another LUCA??,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[pinboy3niner]

20. Noah must have had two, because they even named a CA neighborhood after them

[rug]

12. Check this out:

http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-videos/hydrothermal-vent-creatures

Their ecosystem is inches high.

[skepticscott]

13. Yes, a more accurate headline would have been

"Scientists are calling the ancestor of all living things LUCA".

LUCA is just a concept, not an actual organism that has been discovered. THAT would be really significant..this, not so much.

[rug]

18. The title of the study is: "The physiology and habitat of the last universal common ancestor".

http://www.nature.com/articles/nmicrobiol2016116

It is doubtful, obviously, that any trace of such a four billion year old organism exists.

It is also probable that all subsequent life evolved from those organisms.

BTW, "Lucy" is not the actual name of the austrolopithecus specimen either.

[turbinetree]

7. Oh boy, don't tell the crowd that said the earth was made in what 6,000 years

or was it in seven days, they will have a fit, ask Palin, Carson, herr drumpf, especially pence, Cruz, Walker, McConnell, Bundy's, Imhofe, Grassley, Hatch, and all of those other "esteem scientists" running or trying to run the country and want to make the bible the official "book" of creation




Honk-------------------for a political revolution

[GeorgeGist]

9. Spawn of Satan?

[pinboy3niner]

10. No, early Pokemon

[Helen Borg]

11. Fuck Luca! Trump is Luca's fault, when you think about it.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

14. Pre-Kingdom....

Before the plant and animal kingdom split off from each other.

On other planets something similar could have split off completely differently.

[Orrex]

15. He lives on the second floor

[Avalux]

19. He lives upstairs from me

I think you've seen him before

[TeamPooka]

16. K & R nt

[edhopper]

21. Close up

of the Primal Ooze

[IMG][/IMG]

[rug]

22. That head needs to plug a hydrothermal vent.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. From the Nature article: clostridia and methanogens are the basal bacteria and archaea

So everything developed from the things that give you food poisoning, and make you fart.

[rug]

24. Therein lies the secret of life.

[pinboy3niner]

25. Well, you know what that means...

The Kanamit are gonna have to put a warning on their cookbook.

[Doodley]

26. This cannot be true. Evolution doesn't exist and the world is only 10,000 years old!