A subunit of a yeast mitoribosome (pink) compared to that of a human mitoribosome (purple). Although different, the two developing subunits have an assembly factor (green) in common. Credit: Sebastian Klinge
Across the tree of life, ribosomes, the tiny protein-producing factories within cells, are ubiquitous and look largely identical. Ribosomes that keep bacteria chugging along are, structurally, not much different from those churning out proteins in our own human cells.
But even two organisms with similar ribosomes may display significant structural differences in the DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05621-0