Two-billion-year-old riddle solved at last

A TWO-billion-year-old riddle of how the basic building blocks of life were formed has been solved by scientists in Ireland.

"Nature's big bang" - when two single cells fused into one living organism - has been mapped for the first time by researchers led by a team from the National University of Ireland in Maynooth.

Dr James McInerney, senior biologist, said the discovery in effect traced humans' oldest ancestor. "This was a remarkable event, which appears to have happened only once," Dr McInerney said.

"These two primitive single cell life forms came together in an event that essentially allowed nature to grow big."

Dr McInerney said that the research would help explain what gave rise to all multi-cell organisms we know today - insects, plants, animals and human beings.