February 15, 2008 - 1:00am
By Nikhita Parandekar
Prof. Lynn Margulis, geosciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, is known throughout the scientific community for her work in evolutionary biology. Yesterday, she delivered a lecture entitled “Darwin’s Truths and Symbiogenesis” as part of the Paleontological Research Institute at Cornell’s third annual Darwin Days celebration.
Margulis is well known for her contributions to the endosymbiotic theory, which explains that the organelles of cells are derived from bacteria. However, when she first suggested her ideas to the scientific community, she faced skepticism for many years.