The Asgard archaea are widely accepted as the microbial ancestors that fused with alphaproteobacteria to form eukaryotic cells, including animals, plants, and fungi. This review comprehensively addresses molecular, metabolic, and structural characteristics of Asgard archaea. Experimental approaches involving a modified Miller-Urey setup combined with strains of Asgard archaea and alphaproteobacteria or cyanobacteria aim to induce endosymbiosis in laboratory conditions. Culturing Asgard archaea is challenging due to their slow division rates and requires specialized techniques practiced by only a few laboratories.
Microbiologists, evolutionary biologists, molecular biologists, and researchers studying the origin of eukaryotes and experimental endosymbiosis techniques.
Any experiment involving these Asgard guys would take a long time since they divide very slowly. There are probably special culturing techniques only a few labs would be doing regularly. It would be best to go to a lab that is already doing this.emitted_echo said:It's really interesting to read more about this because I had a similar hypothesis a few years back. As I head into Uni I plan on seeing if I can get a professor to sponsor me so I can use a modified Miller-Urey setup alongside different strains of Asgard Archaea and either alphaproteobacteria or cyanobacteria to attempt induced-endosymbiosis in a laboratory setting.