Parasites reveal how evolution has molded an ancient nuclear structure

Long before animals evolved from sponges, and before plants evolved out of algae, there was a pivotal event that allowed complex, multicellular organisms to arise: the development of the nucleus in single-celled organisms. Eukaryotes, one of the three main branches of living organisms, are defined by the presence of this nucleus and its surrounding membrane, which houses and protects our genetic material. All of the multitude of molecules that need to pass into or out of the nucleus do so via a channel-like structure embedded in this membrane—the nuclear pore complex.

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