Jonathan Lambert

So one way to tune out all that noise is to be really stringent and focus only on genes that show little evidence of horizontal gene transfer. And a really prominent analysis of this sort back in 2016 painted a pretty simple picture of LUCA.

So one way to tune out all that noise is to be really stringent and focus only on genes that show little evidence of horizontal gene transfer. And a really prominent analysis of this sort back in 2016 painted a pretty simple picture of LUCA.

So one way to tune out all that noise is to be really stringent and focus only on genes that show little evidence of horizontal gene transfer. And a really prominent analysis of this sort back in 2016 painted a pretty simple picture of LUCA.

No, she was not a brunette. But the researchers did suggest that Luca was like half alive and relied on hydrothermal vents for energy.

No, she was not a brunette. But the researchers did suggest that Luca was like half alive and relied on hydrothermal vents for energy.

No, she was not a brunette. But the researchers did suggest that Luca was like half alive and relied on hydrothermal vents for energy.

So that's debated, and some researchers think it's probably a little too simple a picture. Phil Donoghue, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, told me that he thinks that being too picky could lead researchers to dismiss lots of proteins that LUCA actually had, which would lead to kind of like an artificially simple picture of LUCA.

So that's debated, and some researchers think it's probably a little too simple a picture. Phil Donoghue, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, told me that he thinks that being too picky could lead researchers to dismiss lots of proteins that LUCA actually had, which would lead to kind of like an artificially simple picture of LUCA.

So that's debated, and some researchers think it's probably a little too simple a picture. Phil Donoghue, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, told me that he thinks that being too picky could lead researchers to dismiss lots of proteins that LUCA actually had, which would lead to kind of like an artificially simple picture of LUCA.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

So basically by being less picky. So instead of trying to definitively predict whether Luca did or didn't have a given gene, they assigned a probability.

So basically by being less picky. So instead of trying to definitively predict whether Luca did or didn't have a given gene, they assigned a probability.

So basically by being less picky. So instead of trying to definitively predict whether Luca did or didn't have a given gene, they assigned a probability.

Yeah, so the team looked at nearly 10,000 different gene families from 350 bacteria species and 350 archaea species.

Yeah, so the team looked at nearly 10,000 different gene families from 350 bacteria species and 350 archaea species.

Yeah, so the team looked at nearly 10,000 different gene families from 350 bacteria species and 350 archaea species.

And from that, they did some fancy probabilistic modeling to account for horizontal gene transfer. That gene sharing we talked about earlier. And they assigned each gene a probability of having been a part of Luca's genome. This created like a fuzzier picture, but probably a more accurate one.

And from that, they did some fancy probabilistic modeling to account for horizontal gene transfer. That gene sharing we talked about earlier. And they assigned each gene a probability of having been a part of Luca's genome. This created like a fuzzier picture, but probably a more accurate one.