Animal Origins: Genome reveals early complexity
By Amy Maxmen
A microscopic spermlike organism contained many of the same tools for cell-to-cell communication found in animals today, two new reports find.
Analysis of DNA from a choanoflagellate, the closest known living nonanimal relative of animals, allows scientists to infer the genetic starter kit possessed by the first animal, the studies suggest.
“It blows open doors for future research,” says Nicole King, coauthor on both papers, published this week in the Feb. 15 Science and the Feb. 14 Nature.