Despite their importance, cyanobacteria are underrepresented in evolutionary studies
We retrieved the abstracts of studies involving cyanobacteria published between 2020 and 2024 and analyzed them using the BART large language model, based on a predefined set of keywords (see figure legend). This analysis indicates that the evolutionary aspects of cyanobacteria are the least studied, regardless of the year considered. In contrast, blooms and public health are the most represented research areas. The fundamental importance of cyanobacteria—particularly their role in the emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis, which was essential for the formation of the biosphere as we know it—remains largely overlooked compared to the negative aspects of cyanobacteria, such as toxicity, which is relatively rare from a taxonomic perspective. Beyond providing new strains for isolation, a citizen science project also offers an opportunity to raise awareness of the evolutionary importance of cyanobacteria.