Multicellularity represents one of the most significant evolutionary transitions in the history of life, and a key topic in Origin of Life research. Understanding its underlying mechanisms offers insight into how complexity arises.

Whether exoplanets may host life as we know it is often assessed in terms of the circumstellar  ‘habitable zone’, where liquid water could exist on the planetary surface. However, this concept is only well-defined for planets with an Earth-like atmospheric composition. Similarly, several proposed biosignatures for exoplanets (i.e., signs of the presence of life as we know it), such as dimethyl sulfide and phosphine, are molecules which on Earth are only produced by living organisms, but for which abiotic formation routes may operate on other planets.

Archaea are established as a separate branch in the tree of life next to bacteria. Eukaryotes are no longer considered a distinct and separate branch, but instead they are considered to be recent members of the archaeal branch. While the effect of controlled and synthetic 3D culture environments on a range of eurkaryotic cell types are widely recognized and can be harnessed to learn about and steer specific cell behaviours, application of this concept in archaea is practically non-existent.