This is the first time researchers have induced endosymbiosis in the lab

One cell might slip inside another and make itself comfortable, sparking a relationship that could last for generations or billions of years .

The phenomenon of one cell living inside another, called endosymbiosis, has fueled the evolution of complex life.

Scientists have struggled to understand how they happen, but scientists have now watched the opening choreography of this microscopic dance.

A bike pump boosted the pressure and forced the bacteria through the cell wall and into the cytoplasm.

The bacteria survived, protected and fed by the fungus — and the fungus scored a poisonous partner.

Researchers watched endosymbiotic and host microbes adapt to each other.

They concluded that the process can’t happen if there is a mismatch between host and host.

Lab-grown endosymbiotic relationships could lead to a new kind of synthetic biology.

Synthetic biology could be a “fascinating avenue to explore biological innovation,” Vorholt said.

Researchers could potentially engineer plants to metabolize pollutants or manufacture medicines.