The organism from which all modern life is descended is called the last universal common ancestor - and scientists are still trying to figure out what it was like.

Understanding how life began and evolved on Earth is a question that has fascinated humans for a long time, and modern scientists have made great advances when it comes to finding some answers. Now, our recent study hopes to offer new insights into the origin of life on Earth.

Around 375 million years ago, our fish-like ancestors breathed through gills. Over 600 million years ago, the common ancestor of all animals emerged – the microscopic urmetazoan. Billions of years before all of that happened, however, the common ancestor of all living organisms, the last universal common ancestor (Luca), must have existed.