A group of biologists has discovered a group of microbes at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The research team believes that it could provide new clues to how life transformed from simple to complex.

Thijs Ettema, a biologist at Uppsala University in Sweden, was of the view that there is evidence that life soon appeared after earth formed, around 4.5 billion years ago, but at that time the planet was not very hospitable.

The microbes that were present at that time had to adjust in a completely different environment. Ettema talked about the discovered microbes that they are quite small and they look very simple. Around two billion years ago, quite complex cells started appearing like the ones present in human body and in plants and animals.

The cells that are found today are larger and also, their genetic material is present inside a nucleus. The cells also have little organs like energy-producing mitochondria. Ettema said that in these cells, complicated functions are taking place.

Ettema thinks that transition from simple to complex cells is a big question in biology. In order to know the answer, the research team went a mile and a half below the sea, between Norway and Greenland.

One of the researchers gathered muddy sediments. In the lab, DNA from the sediment was taken out and was assessed out and sequenced. The researchers used computers to reconstruct the genetic codes and microbes.

Ettema said that the cells were an intermediate form of life and a kind of missing link. “Suddenly we find something that no one has ever seen before. Some people even said that, well, maybe this organism existed but we'd never know for sure. And now, we find it!” he affirmed.