Their and Our Past – The First Microbes and Exploring Our Origins

Overview: Cellular life first emerged on Earth some 3.8 billion years ago. It was a simple microbe. Complex organisms emerged some 2 billion years ago: they were also microbes. So microbes have ruled the planet on their own for more than half of its lifespan, and gave rise to all other organisms that now inhabit the planet. How might the first microbe(s) have been created, how did it/they subsequently evolve, how did the first complex forms of life arise, and how did multicellular organisms, and subsequently the higher organisms that include the plants and animals we see around us arise? What does the evolutionary tree of life look like and how certain are we of its details? Where did the crucial evolutionary events take place? Who is LUCA; what is the Great Oxygenation Event; how did all the bits and pieces of the cell evolve? These issues are fascinating because we share this evolutionary path, our forebears were the original microbes: this is where we came from. Let’s learn about the history of life and, in the process, our own origins!