[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by photon

In effect yes. I think population of cells would be more accurate, though. It's difficult to say where exactly "the" single common ancestor was, if it was at a cellular level or further back.

The genetic evidence supports that all life has a common ancestor.

I think that's inherently difficult for some people to believe, regardless of the influence of religion. Given the amazing spectrum of life on this planet and the relatively slow rate at which things change here, it's a bit of a project to imagine enough unique factors working on individual groups to create that much diversity.

(No, I'm not talking about a 10K year old earth either}