Date Time Decoding DNA may hold clues to how life on earth began In a world-first, scientists from The University of Western Australia are part of an international research team that has developed the first classification system of living organisms across the globe, according to how their DNA folds up inside cell nuclei. The classification system provides insight into the DNA make-up of organisms across the planet, but it also shows how cell DNA might have mutated in the past, making it possible for one species to evolve into an entirely different species over time. It could reveal how humans might have evolved from apes, and if there is merit to this well-known theory and other theories surrounding the dramatic evolution of life on Earth.