LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor) - 1

All life on Earth comes from one single ancestor. And it's so much older than we thought. Scientists have pushed back LUCA's origin by hundreds of millions of years.

* All life on Earth can be traced back to a Last Universal Common Ancestor or LUCA.

* A new study suggests that this organism likely lived on Earth 400 million years after its formation.

* Further analysis shows that this life form likely sported an early immune system which means it was 

   probably fighting off viruses.

 

Life on Earth had to begin somewhere and scientists think that "somewhere" is LUCA. True to its name, this prokaryote-like organism represents the ancestor of every living thing, from the tiniest of bacteria to the grandest of to the grandest of blue whales.

While the Cambrian Explosion kickstarted complex life in a major way some 530 million years, the true timeline of life on Earth is much longer. For years, scientists have estimated that LUCA likely arrived on the scene some 4 billion years which is only 600 million years after the planet's formation. But a new study from an international team of scientists pushes that timeline back even further to some 4.2 billion years ago while also discovering some fascinating details about what life for LUCA might have been like. The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

.....to be continued.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 8. 

Had lunch at Kochannan sahib's restaurant at Karamana. The shop, though small and on the main thoroughfare is known for its genuine mutton. 

Pumped out a couple of pending mail. Phew!

Indirakkutty's group's Ramayana recital at the Akshara guru sannidhi between 5 and 6 PM.