Can a bicycle pump help explain how life works?

with Pexels photo by Ann Shvets

Ingenious scientists replicate the complex process of endosymbiosis. What does this tell us about life and the beginning of it?

Any science article that suggests we might be getting closer to understanding or replicating how life began always sparks my interest. I’ve complained on Medium a time or two about headlines, often from The New Scientist, that suggest or even quite clearly state we are on the very cusp of making that momentous discovery. However, the Fermi Paradox is alive and well, and those who believe it was a one-off event making life on earth pretty special — miraculous even — have no reason to abandon that belief. Not yet.

So, when Quanta Magazine published an article referring to the “microbial dance that sparked complex life” it got my attention. I appreciate the nuance of the headline writer, as well as that of Molly Herring, the author of the article. She made it clear that the dance was recreated, not merely observed. It’s a crucial distinction. Because those who believe biogenesis was a one-off act of the Creator, not replicable by random or accidental natural causes, it requires the intervention of an intelligent agent to make life from the constituents available within creation.

Endosymbiosis is the key issue here, the “microbial dance” Herring refers to. Google’s AI responder provided…