The most widely accepted scientific explanation for the arrival of all complex life on Earth has had an unsolved mystery at its heart. According to the theory, all plants, animals and fungi, known ...

Scanning electron micrograph of Methanobrevibacter smithii DSM 861 (=PS T), Methanobrevibacter smithii DSM 2375 (=ALI), Methanobrevibacter smithii GRAZ-2 and WWM1085. Credit: International Journal of ...

For a long time, the origin of complex life has seemed like a chapter torn out of the book of biology. The middle has been ...

Who were our earliest ancestors? The answer could lie in a special group of single-celled organisms with a cytoskeleton similar to that of complex organisms, such as animals and plants. Ten years ago, ...

New genomic research shows some Asgard archaea, ancestors of plants, animals, and fungi, tolerated and used oxygen. The finding supports the idea that complex life arose after oxygen levels surged and ...

Earth’s immense web of life fill three broad domains—archaea, bacteria, and eukarya. Scientists from Monash University recently discovered hydrogen-producing enzymes in archaea, which were thought to ...

Following the drive to understand and control bacteria, it’s becoming clear that our methods have changed the very organisms we aim to understand, increasing resistance to tried-and-true antimicrobial ...

Chris Greening receives funding from the Australian Research Council, National Health & Medical Science Council, Australian Antarctic Division, Human Frontier Science Program, and Wellcome Trust. Pok ...