One of biggest mysteries in biology: how did complex eukaryotic cells evolve from simple microbes? ~1.8 billion years ago, an archaeal cell likely merged with a bacterium to form the first eukaryotic cell, but can we ever find direct evidence of this transformative event? 🦠 🚶♂️
Beautiful work Deb! Check out these structures? Biofilms are very interesting. 🧶🧬
Emma Johnston (1973–2025) | Nature Ecology & Evolution share.google/8C3YzLRFM9QC...
2 year fellowship available in AMR research www.medicalresearchfoundation.org.uk/grants/antim...
From these cultures, after years of effort, we captured the first direct physical interaction between an Asgard archaeon and a bacterium via nanotubes, offering a rare glimpse into an event that may have led to the emergence of the first eukaryotic cell billions of years ago.
We analysed microbial mats from stromatolites in Shark Bay, Australia – environments that resemble early Earth and act like ~living fossils or time capsules of evolutionary history. These environments host diverse microbial communities akin to those that thrived in ancient times.🔬❄️🧬 🦠
1/ Excited to share our new paper in Science @science.org: “Toward life with a 19-amino acid alphabet through generative artificial intelligence design.” A great collab w/ Sergey's group @sokrypton.org at MIT
@columbiasysbio.bsky.social science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🦠🧬🛠️🖥️💥
Great effort from @tiltedscientist.bsky.social @dcshepherd.bsky.social @bindusmitapaul.bsky.social. Thanks to @unimelb.edu.au @FMDHS @ccemmp-outreach.bsky.social @CGCPT @bio21director.bsky.social
Really excited about this work, you can read more here: www.cell.com/current-biol.... Wonderful collaboration with Brendan Burns, Iain Duggin and Katharine Michie labs.