Cells divide and make new cells, is all life on Earth rooted in one super ancestor cell? Or are there parallel paths to cell creation?
this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
21 points (95.7% liked)
Ask Science
9541 readers
163 users here now
Ask a science question, get a science answer.
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
No, at least not in the way religious people might want you to think. There were likely multiple single-celled organisms that became the early ancestors to the various life on Earth.
So in that way, we all have a common ancestor, but it probably wasn't one cell in particular, just like all apes (including humans) and all modern monkeys didn't come from one single old-world monkey.
The reason this is plausible is because convergent evolution has been observed countless times throughout nature. Bats have wings, insects have wings, birds have wings; fish have scales, snakes have scales, pangolins have scales. And so, a single cell from way back when only needs to have been able to survive, not necessarily have all the exact same adaptations as other cells. As they mixed and shared DNA and split, some of them would have coalesced into our early ancestors, some would have become ancestors of plants, some would have become ancestors for fungi, etc.