Eukaryotic cells have long been known to use multiple layers of regulation, controlling which genes are active and how much of a given protein each one makes.

HGT allows genes to jump between species including viruses and their hosts. If the gene does something useful, it can sweep through the population and become a feature of that species.

One of the most long-standing, fundamental mysteries of biology surrounds the poorly understood origins of introns. Introns are segments of noncoding DNA that must be removed from the genetic code ...

By reviewing the research on this subject, two University of Colorado Boulder scientists have demonstrated that this is not the case with respect to elements of the innate immune system that come from ...

The system, they added, “… demonstrates that horizontal gene transfer, the role of which in eukaryotic regulatory evolution is a subject of intense debate, can re-shape complex regulatory ...

Soon, evidence that Mavericks contained genes encoding viral elements, such as a capsid and a DNA polymerase, started to surface. " The evolution of transposons and viruses is tightly intertwined ...

CVC also said that by March 1, 2012, the inventors had conceived of a CRISPR-Cas9 system in eukaryotic cells, and provided testimony, statements and emails from Doudna and Jinek to support this.

In the journal Nature Microbiology, Dr. Irwin and his colleagues explained how they used complex computational analyses to search for evidence of identical genes present in viruses and eukaryotes.

"For years, I thought that if we ever found out where eukaryotic hydrogen metabolism came from, we would have a clearer picture of how eukaryotes evolved - however, finding out that these genes ...

More information: Enrique M. Muro et al, The emergence of eukaryotes as an evolutionary algorithmic phase transition, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2025).