Holobiont

• Words that Create the Future
  • Lin Margulis, a biologist who supports the Gaia theory, coined the term “holobiont” in her 1991 book “Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation.” She described how multiple different species form a symbiotic relationship, creating an indivisible whole where all organisms thrive together. For example, coral reefs, considered as a complex system of brown algae, bacteria, archaea, and fungi living together, form a holobiont. Margulis concluded from these observations that the essence of life evolution lies in symbiosis rather than competition, diverging from the Neo-Darwinism theory that advocates survival of the fittest.
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