# @seed on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/B_a-gUNg9ah
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/34247125-seed-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/add000d673.jpg
- **Posted:** 2020-04-25T23:00:46.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Seed (@seed) — https://gondola.cc/seed

## Caption

These days, there’s a lot of uncertainty about where we’re going. But today, on DNA Day¹, we thought we’d remind you where you came from. ⁠
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The Story of You began in the middle of this circle, with a single-celled microbial ancestor that lived billions of years ago. And that tangle of branches around it? That’s the explosion of life, emerging from primordial soup. ⁠
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This is the Tree of Life. In science, it’s called a phylogenetic tree. These trees use the DNA sequences of different species to trace back to common ancestors. Charting the changes in DNA over time allows scientists to determine when two species diverged and how closely related they still are.⁠
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What is at first glance a flat structure is actually a living document, showing the interwoven, evolutionary relationships of all organisms on Earth. From manatees to luna moths to tree moss to you and me, this phylogenetic tree depicts all of life’s multifaceted connections. And if you follow the complex, intricate roots back to the center, you’ll arrive at our last universal common ancestor—known to those of you who are participating in #LearnFromHome as LUCA. ⁠
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¹ DNA Day commemorates the 1953 discovery of the DNA double helix by scientists James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, Rosalind Franklin, and their colleagues.

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learnfromhome

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