Anja Spang studies the special role that various micro-organisms such as archaea have played in major evolutionary changes, including the origin of eukaryotes to which humans belong. She has discovered an impressive number of new archaea variants in recent years and has found revolutionary evidence in support of the hypothesis that eukaryotic organisms (such as humans) once evolved from a symbiosis between archaea and bacteria.
What makes Spang’s research especially relevant at present is that archaea also influence the climate. Exactly what their role there is is a question that Spang plans to focus on in the near future.