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photo Steven Dick
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Thank you all for the response to
thumbnail photos of folks at the
memorial symposium for Lynn
Margulis. I think we have positive
identification (more than one
source ) on each now. We also
got greetings from friends of the
Margulis Lab and colleagues that
we had not heard from in quite
some time and that is always
encouraging.
Steven Dick wrote, “You may remember me from the
Woods Hole meeting my NASA office sponsored in 2005
[photo above] I’m the other half of Dick/Strick. Jane
Maienschein (my office mate in grad school) is in the left
background.” [JM - I believe Jim Strick is holding a copy
of What is Life.]
Steven Dick sent the photo (left).
What a lovely look Lynn is giving
him! On Lynn’s left is James Strick
whose book, Wilhelm Reich
Biologist, is now out in print. I
have my copy. The book is
impressively researched and it is a page-turner! The duo of Dick and Strick are the
authors of The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology, a
wonderful history of that field and another great read.
YOU ARE UNLIKELY TO SEE WHAT YOU’RE SURE ISN’T THERE
Lynn Margulis was an extremely generous mentor and made a habit of inviting her
students to become authors on papers where they could make a contribution and
learn the many skills required for preparing a paper for the primary literature and
peer review. This is how I ended up as the coauthor on a number of papers as a
graduate student working on my Master’s. Consequently, I now get notices from
www.researchgate.net that let me know when one of our papers is cited. In March, I
was notified that Destruction of spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi round-body
propagules (RBs) by the antibiotic tigecycline had been cited in the paper, Formation
and characterization of non-growth states in Clostridium thermocellum: spores and
L-forms by Elizabeth B Mearls, Javier Izquierdo and Lee R Lynd. Why do I mention
all this? This new paper in BMC Microbiology is about using Clostridium
thermocellum, an anaerobic thermophilic bacterium, in the digestion of cellulosic
biomass into ethanol. And in the article, the authors have no problem identifying two
non growth states, spores and L forms (round bodies) of the bacterium. The authors
conclude, “Both spores and L-forms were determined to be viable. Spores exhibited
enhanced survival in response to high temperature and prolonged storage compared
to L-forms and vegetative cells. However, L-forms exhibited faster recovery
compared to both spores and stationary phase cells when cultured in rich media.”
One Lynnism was that the closer science got to humans the more dubious the
science. A few months ago, I was told that that same paper had been cited in A
Systematic Review of Borrelia burgdorferi Morphologic Variants Does Not Support a
Role in Chronic Lyme Disease by Paul M Lantos, Paul G Auwaerter, Gary P
Wormser. Their conclusion was that "There is no clinical literature to justify specific
treatment of B. burgdorferi morphologic variants [round bodies].” This is a paper
based on their own specific literature review, so taken literally the conclusion could
be true as far as their literature review went, but it certainly is misleading. First one
must appreciate that a literature review tends to look back into the past. Given the
temper of times past, when the human body was considered sterile by much of
Anglophone medicine, it is likely that papers to the contrary did not stand a good
chance of passing peer review. Nonetheless, the
conclusion that there is “no literature” is the result of a
incomplete review of the primary literature because there is
published literature showing that the morphologic variants
of B. burdorferi are viable, difficult to eradicate with
antibiotics and capable of returning to motile forms. I would
point the reader to the work of Morten Laane accompanied
by his excellent photo microscopy [Note: it is a long
download]. While the persistence and viability of these
forms may not “justify specific treatment of B. burdorferi
morphogenic variants,” it certainly does not justify the end
of the investigation into their role in chronic Lyme Disease!
Gerald Domingue spent his career studying the persistence
Figure 6. Electron micrograph
of bacteria in the human body. His work pointed to
of mature vesiculated mother
fundamental problems with the work of pathologists who
L-form with full peripheral
vesicle just prior to extrusion.
have for decades misidentified “round forms, variants, LNote the similarity between
forms, round bodies” as tissue artifacts. An additional
the dense form within the
problem is that often pathologists are working at levels of
vesicle and that from outside,
with reference to peripheral
magnification insufficient to visualize spirochetes or their
cytoplasm with expanded
morphologic variants. Now, the molecular tools are at hand nucleoid (arrows). x 13,750.
[Reprinted with permission
to prove that these aberrant tissue forms (often stainable)
Green et al., 1974b. in
are bacterial variants observable in tissues. Domingue and from
Demystifying Pleomorphic
his colleagues documented this in a variety of chronic
Forms in Persistence and
human diseases and it is evident in Lyme’s Disease where Expression of Disease: Are
They Bacteria, and Is Peptithe biological cycle of the organism has been well defined
doglycan the Solution?
(2010)]
and documented. For those of you who will be interested
Domingue’s last paper on bacterial persistence and
expression of disease with a relevant bibliography was published in 2010 in the
September issue of Discovery Medicine. The paper brings into focus the importance
of “dense bodies” components of cell wall-defective bacteria as viable bacterial
persisters in humans and their role in chronic inflammatory diseases. Two earlier
companion papers on “dense bodies” in Infection and Immunity in 1974 were first
authored by Domingue’s graduate student, Mary Green (Green, Heidger,
Domingue). These papers put Domingue’s laboratory on the international map of
research for the basic biology of L-forms and
their possible role in disease.
Gerald Domingue, professor emeritus at
Tulane, retired 18 years ago after a 40 year
career in research and teaching (30 years at
Tulane University), with a main research
focus on the etiology of several idiopathic
nephro-urological diseases. He moved to
Paris in 1997 where he began to paint and
write poetry fulltime, relocating five years
later to Zurich where he is presently a
permanent resident of Switzerland. In
addition to his primary affection for the world
of science, passions for painting and creative
writing have always been an important part
Cosmic Aliens Visit Mardi Gras by G. Domingue
of his life since age 9. For those who might be
interested in viewing his work, access the following websites:
www.galerieneworleans.com or www.dlareg-arts.com
We have now entered the era of the microbiome.
Tissues of the animal holobiont are colonized by
bacteria--even the placenta. We now recognize that
“our” immune system is, in large measure, a function
of our persistent microbial symbionts. Despite our
well-practiced neurosis of identifying our “self” as an
individual, we are communities--more bacterial cells
than nucleated animal cells.
Our nucleated cells are composite cells formed by
the integration of communities of eubacteria and
archaebacteria. Our cells couple to their
environment (Maturana and Varela) in metacellular
organizations of symbioses, tissues, organs, and
organ systems that make us up.
Tree of Knowledge-The Biological
Roots of Human Understanding
H. Maturana and F. Verela
These “communities”--from the bacteria of the
extremes of the chemolithoautotrophic microcosm all
the way up to the mega flora, fauna and fungi of the
solar-powered systems of the Earth’s surface--are
structurally coupled to their environments. In extant
species, this coupling has persisted since the origin
of life. This structural coupling produces systems
with cybernetic tendencies, that result in the emergent properties of Gaia (Lovelock,
Margulis et al).
Science and medicine must grapple with the ramifications of the fact that ours is a
bacterial world. Reductionism must face the reality of systems. “Community” has
enormous implications in medicine for health promotion and the treatment of disease
that do not match the myths to which many still cling?
NATHAN CURRIER SUGGESTS A COORDINATED EFFORT TO REWRITE
SELECTED WIKIPEDIA ENTRIES
Nathan Currier, composer of classical music
and columnist on climate change for the
Huffington Post, wrote to me suggesting that
certain entries in Wikipedia relevant to Lynn
Margulis really need a technically competent
rewrite to bring the information presented upto-date with current science.
Nathan wrote, in part, “It's important how
such public information dealing with ‘controversial’ topics gets portrayed on Wikipedia.
Nathan Currier
The Gaia hypothesis [theory] entry, for
example, was very poor: it did not even mention the Amsterdam Declaration on
Global Change, but had a whole section on ‘recent criticism’.”
Quoting Wiki, "Several recent books have criticized the Gaia hypothesis, with
with comments ranging from ‘... the Gaia hypothesis lacks unambiguous
observational support and has significant theoretical difficulties’[52] to ‘Suspended
uncomfortably between tainted metaphor, fact, and false science, I prefer to leave
Gaia firmly in the background’[53] to ‘The Gaia hypothesis is supported neither by
evolutionary theory nor by the empirical evidence of the geological record’.[54] The
CLAW hypothesis, previously held up as confirmation of the success of Gaia, has
subsequently been discredited.’[55]”
Nathan points out Toby Tyrrell's recent anti-Gaia book, On Gaia: A Critical
Investigation of the Relationship between Life and Earth, was presented
as something "new" and important in the Wiki Gaia entry, receiving most of a
paragraph. Tyrrell’s arguments have serious flaws and are based on the discredited
52. Waltham, David (2014). Lucky Planet: Why Earth is Exceptional – and What that Means for Life in
the Universe. Icon Books
53. Beerling, David (2007). The Emerald Planet: How plants changed Earth's history. Oxford: Oxford
University Press
54. Cockell, Charles; Corfield, Richard; Dise, Nancy; Edwards, Neil; Harris, Nigel (2008).An
Introduction to the Earth-Life System. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press
55. Gaia Hypothesis, Conjectures and Refutations. James Kirchner. Climatic Change 58: 21-45,
2003
rules and assumptions of the Modern Synthesis. Nathan notes, “From what I read in
their “Information for Contributors” section, one of the rules of Wikipedia is that
critical or negative material generally should not be removed (as attempts to do this
can lead to locking of the entry). So, what I did was to expand the Tyrrell section to
show that his critique is just a rehashing of the same old Richard Dawkins critique.
No one has made any changes to the Gaia entry since I worked on it, and I think it
really reads very differently than it did before. The opening section is entirely
reworked. Under surface temperature regulation, I added a good deal about CLAW,
since it just said that "CLAW has now been discredited" (based on the Quinn &
Bates Review in Nature). So I added material about a paper that Quinn & Bates
didn't review, although it was published 18 months before their review and was the
first paper using a GCM climate model with coupled aerosol chemistry. The paper I
added showed significant CLAW effects. I rewrote the ‘recent criticism’ section
completely and even included some material from the McFall-Ngai et al Animals in a
bacterial world paper, although I could picture the implications of that material not
being understood at Wikipedia and being removed as ‘irrelevant’.
With Lynn's own Wikipedia entry or that on ‘Symbiogenesis’, you must be in contact
with many experts who could contribute to making them better. The Gaia section in
Lynn’s entry is currently awful, and I’d be happy to work on that myself.
The section on ‘Symbiosis as evolutionary force,’ pretty much dismisses it as simply,
‘something of a fringe idea.’ I'd even like to see more on Donald Williamson’s larval
transfer hypothesis, which is given a whole paragraph, but seemingly only in order
to create a kind of blot on Lynn's reputation. ‘Symbiogenesis’ and the ‘Evolution of
Flagella’ [Undulipodia!] seem to me in need of a great deal of work.
For better or worse, Wikipedia is the go-to place for students and public information.
Making sure these entries are accurately represented should be a priority for those
of us who want to promote the changing paradigms in evolution and biology.”
Next month we will take a look at selected headings of Wikipedia’s entry on Lynn
Margulis with an emphasis on “Symbiosis as evolutionary force”.
CONSUME, BE SILENT, DIE
On April 3, 1980, Cronkite tossed to a news piece from CBS veteran Nelson Benton. For two and half minutes – an eternity even then by TV news standards and a nearimpossibility today, a broadcast warned us about the danger of climate change.
EARTH TO BOSTON OLYMPICS: YOU HAVEN’T POLLED ME
Douglas Zook’s take on the Boston follies.
“And so it goes.” - Kurt Vonnegut