Practically all of our protein-making coded instructions (DNAs) are inside our genomes. Human beings have at least three billion DNA base pairs, and 35,000 protein codes. No, this isn't a lecture about our biological make-up, but a Guinness revelation. Some bacteria called genome">Carsonella ruddi have broken the record for being the smallest genome of any known cellular lifeform!

You're asking, how does this bacteria live? We got billions of 'em protein codes and this weeny has only got 182, and 160,000 base pairs of DNA. Research has found out that what scientists presumed to be the minimum building blocks necessary for life is only half of what Carsonella ruddi has. It actually lives in symbiotic relationship with a leaf-eating bug called psyllid, i.e., the bacteria gets its other protein codes from this insect.
 
Scientists speculate that in the future, Carsonella ruddi will be absorbed by the psyllid as an organelle in the bug's cell. This will prove once more that smaller cells tend to get assimilated by larger cells (as in the case of plants and free-roaming bacteria a long, long time ago). And these findings from Science journal will always remind us of our humble beginnings as...er...little scums.