That’s correct but I don’t see what this has to do with my comment. It’s still a fact that all modern life, at some point, came through the same individual organism (EDIT: this should be population) which, furthermore, already possessed the fundamental machinery of DNA replication, RNA transcription and protein synthesis (amongst other things).
EDIT: I misunderstood. Yes, you’re right: due to lateral gene/molecule transfer, it’s not certain that the last universal common ancestor was an individual cell, and at that time the label “individual” probably didn’t make much sense (although the paper I linked argues strongly that it was in fact one single cell).
> That’s correct but I don’t see what this has to do with my comment. It’s still a fact that all modern life, at some point, came through the same individual organism which, furthermore, already possessed the fundamental machinery of DNA replication, RNA transcription and protein synthesis (amongst other things)
This is a contentious statement that I don't think is established - a fact that the grandparent comment is trying to raise.
That’s correct but I don’t see what this has to do with my comment. It’s still a fact that all modern life, at some point, came through the same individual organism (EDIT: this should be population) which, furthermore, already possessed the fundamental machinery of DNA replication, RNA transcription and protein synthesis (amongst other things).
EDIT: I misunderstood. Yes, you’re right: due to lateral gene/molecule transfer, it’s not certain that the last universal common ancestor was an individual cell, and at that time the label “individual” probably didn’t make much sense (although the paper I linked argues strongly that it was in fact one single cell).