Download Lynn Margulis and Endosymbiosis

Lynn Margulis and Endosymbiosis
In 1966, as a young faculty member at Boston University, Lynn
Margulis wrote a theoretical paper entitled The Origin of
Eukaryotic Cells.
Margulis was attempting to explain how complex organelles, such as
mitochondria, evolved. In other words, how did simple Prokaryotic
cells turn into complex Eukaryotic cells? She suggested that
mitochondria used to be free living bacteria that started to live
inside other, bigger cells.
Organisms living together are described as being symbiotic, so this would be a type of
symbiosis, albeit a very strange and intimate one!
Margulis’ ideas were ridiculed and her paper rejected by at least
15 Scientific Journals before it was finally accepted.
Would you reject it? You need to assess the evidence!

But what exactly is the evidence?
Well, if mitochondria used to be bacteria, then this should tell us something about what
we would expect mitochondria to be like, and we can make some predictions.

Write down a list of everything, yes, everything, you know about bacteria. Their
structure, their way of life, their size, the way they reproduce, how we deal
with them, and so on. You should also have a think about how large structures
cross cell membranes….

Look at your list, and use it to make some predictions about mitochondria.

When you have 5 predictions, go and find out if they’re correct.