Lead researcher Bernard Degnan, of the University of Queensland, said the findings "would shed light on a whole range of different things," and could lay the foundation for breakthroughs in cancer and stem cell research.

"Sponges have what's (considered) the 'Holy Grail' of stem cells," Degnan told AFP. Exploring the genetic function of sponge stem cells could provide "deep and important connections" to the genes that influenced human stem cell biology, he said.

The study, published in the journal "Nature",is the result of more than five years of research by an international team of scientists.It required the extraction of "really pure DNA" from sponge embryos and a complex sequencing exercise, Degnan said.