[mysterypie]

> The first occurred about 2.2 billion years ago, when an archaea swallowed a bacterium that became the mitochondria. The second time happened about 1.6 billion years ago, when cells absorbed cyanobacteria that became chloroplasts.

How was it possible that I could take 3 years of high school biology and not have heard that one lifeform absorbing another lifeform was responsible for these amazing new capabilities? We learned about mitochondria and chloroplasts, but in a very dry way. Primary education could be so much more interesting to kids with context like this.

[tyre]

In that same vein, take a read of: https://jsomers.net/i-should-have-loved-biology/

[paulgb]

This is great, thanks for sharing it! I think it would be good fodder for HN discussion so submitted it to /new, hope you don’t mind.

[kuhewa]

Depends when you took it. The endosymbiotic origin theory has links being worked out well into the 2000s.

https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/the-origin-of-mito...

[dredmorbius]

Symbiogenesis of mitochondria substantially pre-dates the 2000s. It was first proposed over a century ago, 1905 and 1910 by Russian botanist Konstantin Mereschkowski, and substantiated with evidence by Lynn Margulis (a very substantial evolutionary biologist, also one of Carl Sagan's wives) in 1967.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbiogenesis>

Mitochondria were sufficiently established in general awareness to be a plot point of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, being a concept which fascinated the character of Charles Wallace Murray, a young prodigy, in the stories. Though I don't recall if symbiogenesis is specifically referenced. The first story in the series was published in 1962.

[SllX]

I remember we learned this about mitochondria and chloroplasts in 10th Grade Biology back in my day, but I think if I quizzed anybody I went to high school with today it would be a coin flip as to whether they remembered that as part of the lesson. I mean, it's probably a coin flip on any piece of information from when we learned about organelles, or if they even remember the word "organelle". If you quizzed me, I couldn't have told you approximately when these events happened without the article in front of me even though I'm pretty sure we covered that too.

100% of my former schoolmates would probably remember the "powerhouse of the cell" meme though.

[qwerty456127]

I believe the word "organelle" is a part of passive vocabulary of many reasonably educated people. Non-biologists would probably fail to quickly come up with a single word to mean any specialized part of a biological cell but would probably understand when they meet this word used by someone else.

[anal_reactor]

When you have 25 overstimulated kids and 45 minutes and an underpaid teacher, it's just impossible to make it interesting.

[TaylorAlexander]

Actually it’s possible (idk if he was underpaid) though I had a science teacher who is an extremely rare person. This is his website.

http://boomeria.com/

[huytersd]

I mean there are so many amazing things like ATP generating machinery, how flagella move, ribosomal walking etc. You don’t have to post a cheap, lazy, cynical comment like this, there’s a lot to learn and only so much time to do it in.

[VS1999]

The teachers make more than I did for most of my life. Is it not possible for them to take personal responsibility without having to provide excuses? Most teachers do not want to be teachers and are just there because they couldn't make it in their own field or just prefer to do less skilled work.

[nextaccountic]

Did you learn in school that mitochondria had its own DNA? And that our mitochondria comes from the egg, so mitochondrial DNA always comes from our mother's mitochondria.

Or even played Parasite Eve [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasite_Eve_(video_game)#Plot

[mysterypie]

Actually, yes. I recall that the high school textbook and lecture did talk about mitochondria having its own DNA and that mitochondria traced the maternal tree. Although those are somewhat interesting, its origin as a separate lifeform is WAY more interesting.

[matheusmoreira]

When bacteria die, their brethren will literally absorb the DNA of the fallen and obtain their abilities. Bacteria are the Mega Men of microbiology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformation_(genetics)

Oh you evolved a new antibiotic resistance mechanism? Now I've got your power.

[stevenwoo]

Possibly you took biology before this was well known? I think they just have that mitochondria theory from the fossil record and DNA matching between current eukaryotic life.

[mr_toad]

The idea (Symbiogenesis) dates back to the start of last century, and it was a common idea by the seventies. Curricula can move slowly, but I’d expect that it would have been taught in the eighties.

Then again it’s evolution, no way around it, so I can imagine some teachers and schools might omit the theory.

[travisgriggs]

It wasn’t on the AP test.

(Put it there and you would have learned about it, because tests define curriculum—either immediately or downstream)

[j_bum]

If this is exciting to you, I’d recommend “Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life” by Nick Lane [0].

It’s a fascinating and captivating (albeit dense) exploration into the concept that mitochondria were central to the success of eukaryotic life. I read it in a book club during my PhD.

[0] https://nick-lane.net/books/power-sex-suicide-mitochondria-m...

[keiferski]

I’ve had the same experience. Biology in school was boring and static, whereas today I can get lost reading about obscure biological phenomena on Wikipedia.

[throwaway64643]

You can hardly blame the school for that though. As others have said, it's not possible to cater to every student's interest and ability, so compromise has to be made and consequently things turn uninteresting.

Also, there's some confirmation bias and survival bias here. You won't read something that's boring and static to you, or you don't bother remembering reading/watching them. Whereas if something wakes your interest, you'll likely to explore further. At school, you were forced to learn things regardless of whether you might or might not like.

Also, 'you' of today is not the same 'you' back at school. You're now much more experienced and knowledgeable than before. So reading, understanding things are easier than at 15. It's like learning a new language, at first it is challenging because you know only a handful of words, but as you learn more, it gets easier. You know where things are in the big picture and they become interesting.

[jrpt]

It was probably mentioned in the textbook and you just forgot. I just checked my textbook and it’s one of the first things they say when introducing mitochondria and chloroplasts.

[kovacs_x]

trust me- there are lot of things that are barely mentioned in high school, also curriculum is not updated as often as the science uncovers something new and biology is moving forward with a break neck speed at the moment, imo.

Like, you couldn't learn about CRISPR editing before 2000.. because it was not there then. Now it's common knowledge.

[IAmNotACellist]

I'm not sure either. Public school's primary purpose is to teach you just a few things:

1. The mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell)

2. You're made up of DNA and everything is atoms with electrons that zip around on little orbital paths

3. Stalactites vs. stalagmites

4. Crocodiles vs. alligators

5. The Holocaust was seriously bad

6. World history consisted of the US revolutionary war, the Civil war (fought over ending slavery), the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the Western Front in WWII (which began in 1941 and ended in 1945)

You were probably looking out the window for a few years when they continually announced that the mitochondria (POTC) was an absorbed bacterium.

[beacon294]

Experiences vary. I learned the entire European enlightenment, french, college Calculus, Marching band, percussion, College chemistry, college English. In fact, once I got to college I took only chemistry courses (my degree), 1 calculus course, 2 years of German, and 3 philosophy courses. The german was bullshit requirement, frankly, and I should have taken french to simplify my life. But I was young and naive.

[ilkke]

2.2 billion years ago, and then again 1.6 billion years ago = once in a billion years event?

[Affric]

When did you finish school?