I've been writing about archaea on and off since the 1990s - there were quite a few of them kicking around at Regensburg biology department when I was there. Until very recently, this field was mainly of interest (especially to me) for its sheer weirdness. Which is why archaea star in some of my weird books, from Life on the Edge onwards.
Now, however, we know for certain that some of our ancestors were archaea. Specifically the Asgard group of archaea, which are extremely difficult to culture, have been shown to include the root out of which all eukaryotes evolved.
I hadn't followed this development all that closely in the last few years, but the recent report of the second Asgard species to be grown in culture has reminded me that I really should, so my latest feature on our ancestors among archaea is out now:
Archaic ancestors
Current Biology Volume 33, Issue 10, 22. May 2023, Pages R377-R379
Restricted access to full text and PDF download
(will become open access one year after publication)
Magic link for free access
(first seven weeks only)
See also my Mastodon thread where I will highlight all this year's CB features.
Imaging work with Candidatus Lokiarchaeum ossiferum reveals that actin provides the cell with a complex cytoskeleton reminiscent of eukaryotes. (Image: Margot Riggi, The Animation Lab, University of Utah.)
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