In this article, Jim Lake and Maria Rivera, researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), released their report that complex cells found in the human body have probably been the result of a combination of genomes from a prehistoric microbe called Archaea in an effort to survive hostile environments.
Their findings, published in the journal Nature explains Archaea, a life form where members of one of two distinct groups of the most primitive living single-celled organisms, similar in size to bacteria but very different in molecular organization, and bacteria have something in common. Archea and bacteria are both prokaryotes, defining a certain type of cell that has no distinct nucleus to house DNA, or genetic material. Eukaryotes on the other hand, have a distinct nucleus that functions as a regulator of metabolism and transporter of molecules. Examples of simple eukaryotes are yeast, while complex eukaryotes are found in humans and other mammals.
Lake states that their study and experiments are supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, and NASA. Prokaryotes combined their genomes to form eukaryotes, therefore producing two different types of organisms altogether. This has prompted the re-examination of the historical methods used for classifying Earth’s living organisms, which were wholly based on easily identifiable characteristics. The DNA technology now used allows closer examination of molecules are related, identifying genetic predispositions in microbes, plants and animals.
James Rodman, a program officer in NSF directorate for biology and whose department funded the study, states that by the combined efforts of evolutionists, microbiologists and computationalists, the record of evolution and how living things are related will be seen in a bigger, clearer light.
The study was carried out by comparing the genomes of 30 microbes that were classified as eukaryotes, bacteria and Archaea respectively. They found that all of the microorganisms contained about the same number of genes. Lake and Rivera then produced possible genome combinations using a computer. Their result showed that a bacterium and an Archaea specifically used a mixture of their genomes out of the sheer need to survive.
Thus the theory called endosymbiosis, defined as symbiosis in which one organism lives inside the body of another was born. It has explained how and why eukaryotic cells have evolved into smaller compounds that are able to do cellular processes. Modern eukaryotes derive their operational side from ancestral bacteria, while their information side can be attributed to the side of the Archaea.
The scientists also found there was horizontal transfer of genes from organisms, as opposed to the vertical transfer of parent to offspring theory. Read the entire article