Human cells are a mosaic of ancient microbes
Every plant and animal on Earth began as a crowded merger between different species of bacteria, viruses, and single-celled organisms.
The transition from simple microbes to complex life is the greatest evolutionary leap in history. For decades, the prevailing theory of eukaryogenesis, the birth of complex cells, described a simple partnership between two organisms. However, the genetic blueprint of the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor reveals that our origins were far more crowded. We are the descendants of a complex microbial ecosystem that merged into a single functioning unit over 1.5 billion years ago.
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