Who is Lynn Margulis?

You have just learned that Lynn Margulis postulated the Endosymbiotic Theory, which is the
most accepted theory about the origin of eukaryotes. To believe something, especially a theory, it
is important to know the source. Who is Margulis? Why is her theory most accepted? Was she
part of a team, or did she work alone?
1. Search the internet for Lynn Margulis. Who was she?
Lynn Margulis is a visionary biologist. She was born on March 5, 1938 in
Chicago, Illinois. She earned a bachelor’s degree on Liberal Arts at University of
Chicago when she was 18 years old. Six years later, she graduated at University of
Berkeley for her Ph.D. Genetics. She was married to Physicist Carl Sagan with whom she
had two children but divorced after Lynn finished her Ph.D.
She was first interested in learning about cell structure and function. She was able
to study non-Mendelian inheritance of cells. With that, she was able to hypothesize that
there had to be DNA somewhere in the cell that wasn’t in the nucleus because some traits
were passed down to the next generation. Aside from her endosymbiont theory, she is
also known for various works. She is an advocate of the Gaia Hypothesis that states that
life actively regulates Earth’s environment. Her researches have earned numerous honors
including Darwin-Wallace Medal of the Linnean Society, the National Medal of Science,
and membership in the National Academy of Sciences. She has also published books
along with her son Dorion Sagan, including Origin of Eukaryotic Cells, Microcosmos,
Five Kingdoms:An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth and Acquiring
Genomes: A Theory of the Origins of Species.
She has also been involved in controversies like questioning the role of HIV in
causing AIDS in recent years. However, throughout her life she is considered as a champ
because she aced science education. She aided students in less developed countries in
Spain and Latin America to help them learn. Lynn Margulis died on November 22, 2011
due to a massive stroke.
2. Summarize her contribution to the Evolutionary Theory.
Before she was able to publish the Endosymbiont theory, she first learned about
the cell structure and function while she was studying at University of Chicago. She
wanted to learn more about genetics and how it is related to the cell. So during her
graduate studies, she was able to learn about non-Mendelian inheritance of cells. She
hypothesized that DNA should be somewhere in the cell that wasn’t in the nucleus due to
some of the traits being passed down to the next generation. This led her to formulating
the endosymbiotic theory of cells. Lynn found that DNA within mitochondria and
chloroplast inside of the plant cells did not match the DNA in the nucleus.
How did this contribute to the Evolutionary Theory? Darwin’s natural selection
believes in the “survival of the fittest” which means that competition eliminates those
organisms that have weaker adaptations caused by mutations. For Lynn, the
endosymbiont theory was the opposite of Darwin's belief. She proposed that when
 species cooperate with each other it leads to the formation of new organs and other types
of adaptations along with those mutations.
3. Margulis is one of the few women who has made it as a world-renowned scientist. Does
this change your views about women in science? Write down your reflections and discuss
it with your classmates.
Honestly, ever since I have been studying science, I can only count the number of
women who became world-renowned scientists in my hands. It’s a bit sad to think that
way back then women were deprived of opportunities that were the same as men and
their works are not credited to them. Just like Margulis, she was brave enough to enter the
world of patriarchs. She is brave to oppose the ideas of Darwin in evolution even though
he was seen as God in that field. She proved that women are also capable just like how
men are. Just like Marie Curie and Rosalind Franklin, Margulis was also able to break the
stereotype imposed on women in science. And yes, it changed my views about women in
science. That we can also write history and discover breakthroughs just like men. Like
Archimedes, we can also have the opportunity to have Eureka moments and not just
because we are women but because we can be women in science.

References:
Gray, M. W. (2017, May 15). Lynn Margulis and the endosymbiont HYPOTHESIS: 50 years
later. Molecular biology of the cell. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5426843/.

Knoll, A. H. (2012, January 24). Lynn Margulis, 1938–2011. PNAS.

https://www.pnas.org/content/109/4/1022.

O’Malley, M. A. (2015, August 18). Endosymbiosis and its implications for evolutionary theory.
PNAS. https://www.pnas.org/content/112/33/10270.

Scoville, H. (n.d.). Lynn Margulis - an Evolution Scientist. ThoughtCo.

https://www.thoughtco.com/about-lynn-margulis-1224847.