Theos-Talk Archives (August 1995 Message tl00300)

 from"Turbulent Mirror" by Briggs & Peat

p155
" ... most biologists now agree with (Lynn) Margulis that
evolution took a sudden jump when microbes coupled
symbiotically in repsonse to the 'holocaust' resulting from the
worldwide release by cyanobacteria of a waste product toxic to
most bacterial l ife, including to the cyanobateria themselves.
The polluting toxin was oxygen. The 'oxygen holocaust' ...
caused a massive bacterial death & forced mutations that
created new strains. Some baacteria went underground, out of
the way of the deadly gas; others developed the ability to
'breathe' the oxygen; others engaged in feedback relatonships
that led to a brand new step in evolution. .... When 1 of the
cyanobacateria that were creating the holocaust entered another
bacteria in search of food ... the host cell moved to protect
itself from the sudden presence of oxygen by forming a nuclear
membrane around its DNA, and this created the first nucleated
cell. ....." The description is that they accommodated
themselves to each other rather than try to kill each other
out. (lfd)
"... the attempt to reject an intruder created an interaction
that created a marriage.....
"According to this approach, the Yellow Emperor's kingdom was
built and is preserved not out of deadly combat but out of
ever-expanding harmony.

"By showing convincingly how cooperation is a powerful
mechanism for evolutionary change, Margulis adds her voice to
the rising tide of theorists calling for a new view of
evolution." rather than Darwin's survival of the fittest, which
mirrored the thoughts of those times.