The Ancestor of All Cells

Sources and credits for imagery used in this film, including material incorporated into explanatory animations.

• Confocal laser scanning microscopy images showing different microbial morphotyes in chimney samples

  Aurélien Lecoeuvre, Bénédicte Ménez, Mathilde Cannat, Valérie Chavagnac & Emmanuelle Gérard

  View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 4.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• DAPI-stained nuclei of HaCaT keratinocytes

  Accuratelibrarian

  View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Scientific image

  View original source ↗

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Scientific image

  View original source ↗

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• E. coli Bacteria (7316101966)

  NIAID

  View original source ↗Source licence: Public domain

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Oak tree Sunol Regional Wilderness California 2023 dllu

  Daniel Lu ( User:dllu )

  View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Diatom chain

  Luca Santangeli (Arendt Lab, EMBL Heidelberg

  View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• A Hand

  Gaurav Dhwaj Khadka

  View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Rod and sphere forms of Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1

  Helga Stan-Lotter and Sergiu Fendrihan. Photographs taken by Chris Frethem, University of Minnesota.

  View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY-SA 4.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Carl Woese

  Don Hamerman

  View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 3.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

• Stromatolite (Dresser Formation, Paleoarchean, 3.48 Ga; Normay Mine, North Pole Dome, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia) 2 (47748432842)

  James St. John

  View original source ↗Source licence: CC BY 2.0

  Incorporated into an explanatory animation; presentation may include cropping, labels and overlays.

Research references

Selected sources from the episode’s research and scientific figures.

1. 10.1038/s41559-024-02461-1 ↗
2. LUCA-divtimes ↗
3. Goldman et al. 2022 ↗
4. Forterre 2024 ↗
5. The Unfinished Reconstructed Nature of LUCA ↗
6. 10.1126/sciadv.aef3128 ↗
7. arXiv:2510.08410 ↗
8. Phys.org ↗
9. IMéP/CNRS ↗
10. formal test ↗
11. 2011 response ↗
12. Microbial Diversity and Open Questions about the Deep Tree ↗
13. The universal tree of life: an update ↗
14. LUCA between ancient Earth chemistry and genetics ↗
15. Replication machinery of LUCA ↗
16. GTP before ATP ↗
17. Evolution of Replication Machines ↗
18. Archaeal DNA Replication ↗
19. Open article ↗
20. A tuneable minimal cell membrane reveals that two lipid species suffice for life ↗
21. Allwood et al. ↗
22. reassessment ↗
23. What the earliest evidence for life tells us ↗
24. LUCA and its complex virome ↗
25. virosphere synthesis ↗

Music

• Meditation From The Star Orion
  OctahedronMusic · Envato Elements