{"id":9729,"date":"2026-06-12T12:01:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.theck1.no\/?p=9729"},"modified":"2026-06-12T12:01:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:01:24","slug":"the-first-complex-cells-had-genes-from-a-complex-mix-of-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.theck1.no\/?p=9729","title":{"rendered":"The first complex cells had genes from a complex mix of species"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n John Timmer
\n <\/strong>
\n •
\nJune 11, 2026\n<\/div>\n\n

We tend to view ourselves and the complex cells that build us as a distinct branch of the tree of life from the compact, seemingly featureless cells of bacteria and archaea. But we’ve found that our genome is actually a hybrid, a mish-mash of genes from bacteria and archaea, along with some that have evolved in our own lineage.<\/p>\n

Scientists gradually settled on a simple explanation for this: the first complex cells were the product of a fusion between archaeal cells and bacteria, with the bacteria ultimately evolving into the mitochondria, a chemical-power-generating structure that still retains a bit of its own genome. Over time, many of the other bacterial genes were transferred to the nucleus of what was becoming what we now call a eukaryote, intermingling with the archaeal genes there.<\/p>\n

But a new study has taken a careful look at some of the genes shared by all eukaryotes and comes to the conclusion that the reality is a little more complicated and that there were several waves of gene transfers from bacteria. The big picture of a merger between bacteria and archaea is still right, but it was only part of a picture where gene transfers among species were commonplace.<\/p>\n

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John Timmer • June 11, 2026 We tend to view ourselves and the complex cells that build us as a distinct branch of the tree of life from the compact, seemingly featureless cells of bacteria and archaea. But we’ve found that our genome is actually a hybrid, a mish-mash of genes from bacteria and archaea,<\/p>\n

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