University of Geneva researchers address the chicken or egg dilemma

Researchers from the University of Geneva suggest a scientific resolution to the ancient philosophical dilemma of whether the chicken or the egg came first. The study points to the single-celled organism Chromosphaera perkinsii, discovered in marine sediments near Hawaii, as a key factor.

This organism, which is over a billion years old, has the ability to create multicellular structures resembling animal embryos. This indicates that the biological mechanisms for creating eggs existed long before the emergence of animals like birds. While various egg-laying species existed well before the modern chicken, the answer depends on the definition of a ‘chicken egg.’

From an evolutionary standpoint, an egg containing the first true chicken embryo would have been laid by a bird that was not quite a chicken but carried the necessary genetic mutations. Therefore, under this definition, the egg preceded the chicken.