"After the dawn of life some 4 billion years ago, one of the most fascinating and mysterious turning points in the history of life on Earth is its leap from single-celled organisms to multicellularity about 3 billion years later. Most scientists believe that this transition occurred only once in animals. So how and why, after so many aeons, did cells begin to cooperate and specialise to ultimately form animal life?"
"This video from Nature uses microscopy to explore five unicellular microbes that display limited multicellular behaviours. Scientists hope that studying these species may help explain how life made the extraordinary leap towards complexity, giving rise to the rich diversity of animals on the planet today - including, of course, the complex creatures whose cells are collaborating to read these words."
Life originated around 4 billion years ago. The transition from single-celled organisms to multicellularity occurred roughly 3 billion years later and represents a major evolutionary turning point. Most scientists infer that the origin of animal multicellularity happened only once. The mechanisms behind the initial cooperation and division of labour among cells remain unclear. Some unicellular microbes exhibit limited multicellular behaviours, including temporary aggregation and primitive specialization. Microscopy-based study of five such species reveals cellular interactions and behaviors that could model early steps toward complexity. Comparative investigation of these microbes may illuminate pathways by which simple cells evolved into the diverse animal forms present today.
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