The evolutionary origin of sperm can be traced back to a single-celled ancestor of all living animals. Almost all animals reproduce by having a single-celled stage of their life cycle, involving two ...

Multicellular cyanobacteria do something strikingly sophisticated with their DNA, toggling key genes on and off as day turns to night so different cells can specialize without starving the colony of ...

The diversity of unicellular eukaryotes covered in the study, with their nucleus (blue) and microtubule cytoskeleton (magenta) stained. These organisms are so distantly related to each other as they ...

Researchers have captured the first clear view of the hidden architecture that helps shape a simple multicellular organism, showing how cells work together to build complex life forms. Volvox. The ...

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Humans often view being multicellular as an advantage, but most life on Earth is single-celled, thriving in extreme conditions. The evolution of multicellular life, starting about 2.5 billion years ...

Scientists study ancient unicellular organism C. perkinsii to understand transition from single-cell to multicellular life. Research suggests C. perkinsii demonstrates early forms of multicellular ...

Which came first – the chicken or the egg? All animals begin development from a single-celled zygote and progress through a series of coordinated steps to become complex multicellular organisms. While ...

GENEVA, Switzerland — Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It’s been a puzzle that has stumped humanity for ages. However, an ancient cellular clue may have finally answered this timeless ...

It’s known as the “boring billion,” a murky period in Earth’s history between 1.8 billion and 800 million years ago, when life’s complexity didn’t extend much beyond single-celled organisms. Apart ...

Researchers have discovered that Chromosphaera perkinsii, an ancient single-celled organism, can form multicellular structures resembling early animal embryos, suggesting that the genetic mechanisms ...

The world is full of unusual unicellular organisms and microbes, many of which have not been discovered yet. In 2017, scientists identified a single-celled marine organism called Chromosphaera ...