Endosymbiotic Theory Essay

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Endosymbiotic Theory Ninna Baer DeVry University Do you believe that organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts were once bacterial cells? Well evidence states it to be true, and known as the Endosymbiotic Theory. According to scientists, the Endosymbiotic Theory states “organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts had originally been bacteria that were taking into larger bacteria by endocytosis and not digested” (Swire 2011). Endocytosis is “a process in which a cell takes materials by engulfing them and fusing them with its membrane” (Swire 2011). The cells from which these bacteria came from would have to have had a symbiotic relationship (Swire 2011). When two different species undergo symbiosis, they profit from living and working together (“The Evolution of the Cell” 2012). Symbiosis is defined as one organism actually living inside the other (“The Evolution of the Cell” 2012). Once the bacteria would form the organelles, they would have to live inside the host cell or they would die (Swire 2011). As we all know, in everyday life people use the word theory as an opinion, but in the world of science it is used as a well-developed explanation accepted as fact. A woman named Dr. Lynn Margulis was the leading figure behind the Endosymbiotic Theory (Swire 2011). Dr. Lynn Margulis wrote a book called ‘Symbiosis in Cell Evolution’ which stated her ideas about eukaryote evolution (Swire 2011). Many of Margulis’s fellow biologist disagreed with her ideas. But once her research and findings became continuous, her theory was accepted (Swire 2011). Although before Margulis revealed the endosymbiotic theory, she was known for her development of symbiogenesis (Swire 2011), which later expanded onto the Endosymbiotic theory. Margulis’s theory was based on the idea that mitochondria were separate organisms that entered the symbiotic relationship with

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