{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/638fae9eebaaed00108c0d80/682b7647bc0e75815227b405?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"FUCA, the First Universal Common Ancestor","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/638fae9eebaaed00108c0d80/1747678708714-8aa89402-4bfb-4250-8cea-ddf1122f3dfa.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>&nbsp;(image source: <a href=\"https://medium.com/@smartap3s/luca-and-fuca-our-great-great-great-grandmas-7880b0950e53\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https://medium.com/@smartap3s/luca-and-fuca-our-great-great-great-grandmas-7880b0950e53</a>) </p><p><br></p><p>Host Matthew Donald and guest co-hosts Jennifer Grossman and Matt’s niece Logan (against his will) discuss FUCA, the original, original life before even LUCA was a thing, which I also covered with Jennifer about two hundred episodes earlier. From the Early Precambrian, this non-cellular entity was actually quite different from LUCA, in that while the latter had cells and enzymes and other biology that makes it more akin to a living organism, FUCA is just a glob of aimless amino acids. We really can’t go back much further than this on this show, which hey, thank God there’s a limit.</p><p><br></p><p>Want to further support the show? Sign up to our Patreon for exclusive bonus content at<a href=\"https://www.patreon.com/matthewdonald?fan_landing=true\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"> Patreon.com/MatthewDonald</a>. Also, you can get links to follow Matthew Donald and purchase his books at<a href=\"https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"> https://linktr.ee/matthewdonald</a>. His latest book, <em>Teslamancer</em>, just released August 27th! And mild spoiler alert... there are kind of dinosaurs in it... mwuahahaha.</p>","author_name":"Matthew Donald"}