One Tiny Bubble: The Story of Our Last Universal Common Ancestor

One Tiny Bubble: The Story of Our Last Universal Common Ancestor

Meet LUCA—our Last Universal Common Ancestor, the itty-bitty organism that every unique life-form on Earth can be traced back to. This sprinkle-sized blob was formed from the dust of exploded stars, water, and a lot of heat. LUCA was a single cell that split into two, and these cells multiplied into more organisms that grew and changed. Over the billions of years that followed, the descendants of LUCA evolved into bacteria, mushrooms, sharks, fir trees, lions—and humans! All the extraordinary life on Earth began with LUCA, through a miraculous process that could also occur on other planets.