Slanted Truths

The sperm do carry half the compact genetic message of the human DNA, but they are too small to transfer this equally essential symbiotic one that comes down from the mothers, within roomy egg after roomy egg.



The author of this work is best known for her suggestion that mitochondria and chloroplasts, the energy-producing components of plant and animal cells, originally evolved as separate organisms and then merged with their host cells in a symbiotic union. She is also one of the founders, with James Lovelock, of the Gaia theory, the idea that the entire biosphere is a self-regulating meta-organism. This collection of essays explores the far-reaching implications of symbiosis as an evolutionary force, such as its role in brain development and the questions it poses for the existence of truly "individual" organisms.