The Germs of Life Our ancestors were bacterial communities by Lynn Margulis and Emily Case Published in the November/December 2006 issue of Orion magazine http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/182/ WATCH TV FOR AN HOUR. Flip through a mainstream magazine. Peruse personal hygiene or cleaning products in a store. You’ll feel the need to defend yourself with antibacterial soaps and cleaning agents, even antimicrobial pillows and socks. Fear of bacteria has reached a feverish pitch recently, thanks in large part to the work of ever- industrious advertisers. In our efforts to eliminate these “germs” we have had devastating effects—not on the bacteria, but on ourselves. The bacteria that now pose the greatest threats to humans are products of our own making. The evolution of pests and pathogens resistant to human poisons has a long, well- documented history. Hospitals, where antibacterial drugs, soaps, and cleaners are used in volume, are hotbeds of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Farmers feed livestock excessive amounts of antibiotics, thereby selecting for bacteria that are resistant to those medicines—versions of which are also used for humans. But our xenophobia also blinds us to a more fundamental insight: the health of our environment, and our bodies, depends on bacterial communities. Indeed, they are responsible, as ancestors, for our very existence. If Life had a yearbook, bacteria would win all of the awards, especially “most likely to succeed.” A bacterium is an organism made up of one or more small prokaryotic cells, those that have DNA genes but lack nuclei and chromosomes. Bacteria inhabit the farthest reaches of the biosphere. They live in the hottest, coldest, deepest, saltiest, and most acidic environments. They are the most ancient lifeform, having lived on Earth for at least 3.8 billion years, over 80 percent of its history. By contrast, humans have occupied a narrow range of environmental conditions—and for only about 0.003 percent of the Earth’s existence. If we even made it into the yearbook, the caption would have read “photo not available.” Earth’s environment is in large part the product of bacterial metabolism. Bacterial nitrogen fixation enriches the soil at no cost to us. And the photosynthesis that excretes oxygen and makes food for all life is carried out by the blue-green bacteria called cyanobacteria—both the free-living kind and those that became chloroplasts in the cells of algae and plants. These are just two of bacteria’s life-sustaining processes, invented at least 2 billion years ago. We should view them as the wisdom of the ancients. sperrault Highlight Even disease-causing bacteria—exceedingly rare despite the fear-mongering of marketers—play a part in ecological health. Anthrax spores, for example, float in the dust of over-eaten and sun-exposed fields, enter the lungs and blood of vulnerable or weak grazers, and kill them. Fields ...

1. The Germs of Life
Our ancestors were bacterial communities
by Lynn Margulis and Emily Case
Published in the November/December 2006 issue of Orion
magazine
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/182/
WATCH TV FOR AN HOUR. Flip through a mainstream
magazine. Peruse personal
hygiene or cleaning products in a store. You’ll feel the need to
defend yourself with
antibacterial soaps and cleaning agents, even antimicrobial
pillows and socks. Fear of
bacteria has reached a feverish pitch recently, thanks in large
part to the work of ever-
industrious advertisers.
In our efforts to eliminate these “germs” we have had
devastating effects—not on the
bacteria, but on ourselves.
The bacteria that now pose the greatest threats to humans are
products of our own
making. The evolution of pests and pathogens resistant to
human poisons has a long, well-
documented history. Hospitals, where antibacterial drugs, soaps,
and cleaners are used in
volume, are hotbeds of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.

2. Farmers feed livestock
excessive amounts of antibiotics, thereby selecting for bacteria
that are resistant to those
medicines—versions of which are also used for humans.
But our xenophobia also blinds us to a more fundamental
insight: the health of our
environment, and our bodies, depends on bacterial communities.
Indeed, they are
responsible, as ancestors, for our very existence.
If Life had a yearbook, bacteria would win all of the awards,
especially “most likely to
succeed.” A bacterium is an organism made up of one or more
small prokaryotic cells, those
that have DNA genes but lack nuclei and chromosomes.
Bacteria inhabit the farthest reaches
of the biosphere. They live in the hottest, coldest, deepest,
saltiest, and most acidic
environments. They are the most ancient lifeform, having lived
on Earth for at least 3.8
billion years, over 80 percent of its history. By contrast,
humans have occupied a narrow
range of environmental conditions—and for only about 0.003
percent of the Earth’s
existence. If we even made it into the yearbook, the caption
would have read “photo not
available.”
Earth’s environment is in large part the product of bacterial
metabolism. Bacterial
nitrogen fixation enriches the soil at no cost to us. And the
photosynthesis that excretes
oxygen and makes food for all life is carried out by the blue-
green bacteria called
cyanobacteria—both the free-living kind and those that became

3. chloroplasts in the cells of
algae and plants. These are just two of bacteria’s life-sustaining
processes, invented at least 2
billion years ago. We should view them as the wisdom of the
ancients.
sperrault
Highlight
Even disease-causing bacteria—exceedingly rare despite the
fear-mongering of
marketers—play a part in ecological health. Anthrax spores, for
example, float in the dust of
over-eaten and sun-exposed fields, enter the lungs and blood of
vulnerable or weak grazers,
and kill them. Fields recover their vegetation. The grazers’ food
supply is spared, the stability
of the ecosystem restored.
Bacteria also sustain us on a very local, intimate scale. They
produce necessary vitamins
inside our guts. Babies rely on milk, food, and finger-sucking to
populate their intestines with
bacteria essential for healthy digestion. And microbial
communities thrive in the external
orifices (mouth, ears, anus, vagina) of mammals, in ways that
enhance metabolism, block
opportunistic infection, ensure stable digestive patterns,
maintain healthy immune systems,
and accelerate healing after injury. When these communities are
depleted, as might occur
from the use of antibacterial soap, mouthwash, or douching,
certain potentially pathogenic
fungi—like Candida or vaginal yeast disorders—can begin to

4. grow profusely on our dead
and dying cells. Self-centered antiseptic paranoia, not the
bacteria, is our enemy here.
But in our ignorance, we also miss a larger lesson. Bacteria
offer us evidence that health
depends on community, and independence is an ecological
impossibility. Whenever we treat
isolated medical symptoms or live socially or physically
isolated lives, we ignore warnings
from our more successful planetmates.
Bacteria in their natural environments live in well-structured
communities based on
reciprocity. As one type excretes acid, sugar, or oxygen, its
wastes become food or gas for
others. And these communities are ecologically sensitive.
Bacteria change form and
metabolism in response to environmental cues like dryness or
heat. Many multicellular
bacteria (such as those made of long filaments of cells) revert to
single cells in the laboratory.
But in the richness of their normal habitat, from pond water to
tongues, they transform back
into their long chains.
The bacterial propensity to live in ecological communities has
also left its mark in the
cells of all larger life. Protoctists (like algae or ciliates) and
fungi (like yeasts or molds)—not
to mention plants and animals—are all nucleated-cell
organisms; their cells contain nuclei
that divide by mitosis, a complex dance of chromosomes. As
research from our lab and
others has proved, nucleated-cell organisms could not have
evolved without the multimillion-

5. year-old permanent mergers of specific bacteria. Cellular
respiration, for example, the
process that releases energy from food, occurs in the cell’s
mitochondria. Mitochondria were
once independent bacteria that attacked, or were engulfed by, an
early protist.
More recently, some of us have studied what we think is another
historic incorporation
of bacteria. This one involves the wily bacteria known as
spirochetes, including one that we
suspect is an ancestor of all of us nucleated-cell organisms. By
new molecular biology
techniques we expect to prove that an ancient spirochete fused
with another very different
bacterium, and that the result was that certain free-swimming
spirochetes contributed
remnants of their lithe, snaky bodies to become moving
components of cells. These parts
include the familiar waving hairs called cilia, and the tubules of
the mitotic spindle, which
moves chromosomes so that cells divide equally.
sperrault
Highlight
But an even later consequence of the hypothetical merger
evidently extends to sensory
tissues. In mammals, the cells of the tongue’s taste buds, the
inner-ear cells required for
hearing, and light-sensitive cells in the retina of the eye all have
traceable, peculiar features
in common. Even cells of the semicircular “canal-balance
organ,” the stimulus-receiver that

6. tells us whether we are on our feet or upside down, share the
detailed features we interpret as
clues to their origin.
The salient feature is that these cells have the hairlike cilia,
which sense stimuli like
light, touch, or sound. It is widely accepted that these cilia, all
composed of skinny tubules
arranged in a distinct pattern, evolved from a common ancestor,
whose identity remains
unknown. Our evidence indicates that it was the ancient
spirochete: that in the complex
ecology of bacterial communities, the merger happened; and
that ultimately out of that
merger our sensory apparatus evolved, giving us the basis of our
awareness—and by
extension our consciousness.
In the symbiotic associations that have persisted, co-habitation
ultimately succeeded.
Our nucleated-cell ancestors evolved because they could swim,
breathe oxygen, eat whole
bacteria, and merge. Their success was predicated on an
attraction to sugars and each other,
struggle, fusion, eventual incorporation, and integration by
compromise. Our sensibilities
come directly from the world of bacteria. Like all life, we thrive
in communities. It’s natural
that people who have strong social relations prove healthier and
longer-lived.
Humans have nonetheless found no shortage of ways to foul
communities, cause
extinctions, and threaten our own existence in the process. But
bacteria wouldn’t miss us.
They have run the planet for most of its history, and our rush to

7. indiscriminately kill them
only reveals our own naïveté. The bacteria, with their complex
history and virtuoso
performances in energy and food recycling, will easily endure
our assault. But our own
survival depends on a revolution in human attitudes toward—
and ability to learn from—our
microbial ancestors.
sperrault
Highlight
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 1
UWP 011, Winter 2016
Assignments
Opening Impression, week 1
...............................................................................................
........... 2
Overviews and Comments (O&C), weeks 1-8
................................................................................. 3
Analyses & Plans (A&P), weeks 1-8
...............................................................................................
. 5
Terminology Quizzes, weeks 1-10
...............................................................................................
... 7

8. OCAP, weeks 8-9
...............................................................................................
.............................. 8
Closing Impression, Week 10
...............................................................................................
......... 10
Final Reflection, Exam
Week......................................................................................
................... 11
Appendix A: Overall Grading Standards
....................................................................................... 12
Appendix B: Calendar of All Assignment Due Dates
..................................................................... 13
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 2
Opening Impression, week 1
Opening Impression: Description
Read Folger’s “Foreword” to The Best American Science and
Nature Writing 2015.
Write at least 500 words about the Foreword, answering the
following questions: Folger asks
“What if the world’s political leaders met and engaged in the

9. same caliber of discourse that
scientists do, with the same spirit of collaborative problem
solving?” and goes on to say what
politicians would do as a result. What does this foreword
implying about science? About
politics? In what ways do you agree with him? In what ways do
you disagree? Why?
Opening Impression: Rationale
When learning, it helps to know where you are starting—what
you already know, what you
don’t know, what you want to know, what you assume, and so
on. This assignment gives you a
chance to pause and think about your knowledge and beliefs
before we leap into the readings
and rhetorical concepts of the quarter.
Opening Impression: Evaluation Criteria
Criteria Description
Completeness At least 500 words
Answers all the questions in the prompt
Clarity The writing is clear and unambiguous
throughout.
Professionalism The file is formatted according to the
instructions (i.e. with a header that includes
your name and so on).
The file is named according the file naming
conventions described in the syllabus.

10. UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 3
Overviews and Comments (O&C), weeks 1-8
O&C: Description
For each O&C, write:
x A 150-200 word objective overview of the article. Include its
main point(s), and write
this entirely in your own words (no quoting). Use a signal
phrase that refers to the
article in each sentence; this will help you develop or hone a
habit of always attributing
information or ideas to the source they come from.
x A 150-200 word subjective commentary to the article in which
you share your personal
reactions to or thoughts about any aspect of the article. Write
this entirely in your own
words (no quoting).
Use the following headings to separate the sections:
x Overview (# words)
x Comment (# words)
For “# words,” include the number of words in that section.
O&C: Rationale

11. Writing Overviews and Commentaries will help you practice:
x Identifying main ideas in articles
x Shifting between two stances toward a text: An objective
stance in which you simply
report what the article says, and a subjective stance in which
you offer personal
reactions.
x Attributing each source’s ideas to that source
x Writing concisely and clearly
The O&Cs will also help us (the teaching team) identify who
needs help with the readings, and
make sure that you get credit for doing the readings.
O&C: Evaluation Criteria
Over all Clarity The writing throughout is clear and
unambiguous.
Attributions It is clear at all points which ideas are yours and
whom other
ideas are from.
Professionalism The document heading includes your name and
the date.
The file is named according the file naming conventions
described
in the syllabus.

12. UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 4
The O&C is written and formatted according to instructions
(i.e.,
with a heading and word count for each section).
Overview Objectivity The overview is completely objective.
Accuracy The overview includes the article’s main
points/ideas.
Originality The overview is in your own word (no quoting).
Length The overview is 150-200 words
Comment Focus The comment is your reactions or thoughts
about the article.
Originality The comment is in your own words (no quoting).
Length The comment is 150-200 words.
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 5
Analyses & Plans (A&P), weeks 1-8
A&P: Description
The A&P has two parts. For the analysis, consider the article
using ONLY the current theoretical

13. lens and, based on that lens:
x Make an overall claim about how good a job the article does.
x Make a claim about one STRENGTH the article has, offer
supporting evidence from the
article, and explain how the evidence supports the claim.
x Make a claim about one WEAKNESS the article has, offer
supporting evidence from the
article, and explain how the evidence supports the claim.
For the plan:
x Describe how the writer could improve the piece to overcome
that weakness.
x Find and cite an outside (not from UWP 11) source the writer
could use in doing so, and
explain how the information or ideas from that source would
overcome the article’s
weakness.
x Include an “ASPECT” evaluation of the outside source.
Please use the provided template provided on SmartSite
(SmartSite > Resources > Handouts >
A&P_Template_For_Students.docx). Remember to change the
file name, following the file
naming conventions described in the syllabus:
YourLastName-YourFirstName_ProjectTitle_mm-dd.doc
A&P: Rationale
Writing Analyses & Plans will help you practice:

14. x Making a claim and supporting it with evidence
x Explaining how the evidence supports the claim
x Finding and evaluating relevant sources
x Attributing each source’s ideas to that source and citing
sources
x Writing concisely and clearly
A&P: Evaluation Criteria
Overall Clarity Writing throughout is clear and unambiguous
Professionalism File is named according the file naming
conventions described in
the syllabus
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 6
Document is formatted according to instructions
Analysis Claims Has a clear claim about one strength the article
has based on the
theoretical lens
Has a clear claim about one weakness the article has based on
the
theoretical lens
Support Supports each claim with evidence from the article
Explains how the evidence supports each claim

15. Includes in-text citations for the article
Plan Claim Makes a claim about how to improve the article.
Support Supports the claim with evidence from an outside
source you found
Explains how the evidence supports the claim
Includes in-text citations for the outside source
Citation Give a full citation for the source using a standard
academic
citation format (MLA, APA, CBE, etc.)
ASPECT Includes a completed ASPECT table for the source
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 7
Terminology Quizzes, weeks 1-10
Terminology Quizzes: Description
Twelve times during the quarter you will be asked to define a
term. This may be during lecture,
and it may be during a discussion.
The quiz format will be simple:
x You will be given two of the terms from a running list of
terms.
x You will be asked to define one of them in your own words.
The terms will be explained during lectures, and each lecture’s

16. slides will end with a list of
terms from that day.
You are welcome to discuss definitions with the professor, TAs,
and each other. You are
welcome to ask about terms on the SmartSite chat.
Terminology Quizzes: Rationale
These quizzes are intended to help you stay up to date with the
technical vocabulary we use in
UWP 11.
Terminology Quizzes: Evaluation Criteria
Each quiz is worth ½ point, and the lowest two quiz grades will
be dropped.
They will be evaluated on accuracy of how the term is used in
UWP 11.
Many fields (academic and non-academic) use the same words
to mean different things, so it is
important to understand how a given term is being used in a
given context. Thus, if you are
asked to define rhetoric, we will not be looking for a dictionary
definition of rhetoric, or even
the definition you may have learned in a previous writing
course, but for what is meant by
“rhetoric” in the context of UWP 011.

17. UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 8
OCAP, weeks 8-9
Choose one article from The Best American Science and Nature
Writing 2015, and two lenses.
Write a combined Overview, Comment, Analysis, and Plan
(OCAP).
Use at least five new outside sources, and submit the ASPECT
form for each with your OCAP.
OCAP will be evaluated using these criteria:
Completeness The OCAP is complete, meaning:
x It uses two lenses
x It uses at least five sources in addition to the article being
analyzed.
x It uses those sources to make a research-based argument for
how
your selected article could be improved according to those
lenses.
Development The OCAP:
x Makes clear, specific claims and subclaims.
x Uses the rhetorical vocabulary from this course whenever
appropriate.
x Convincingly argues that the article has weaknesses according
to the

18. lenses you chose.
x Explains how the article it could be more improved according
to those
lenses. Suggestions are specific, relevant, and supported by
research.
x Explains how each piece of evidence supports a given point,
and how
each suggestion would improve the article.
x Explains how conclusions follow from the claims or
suggestions and
evidence.
Sources Choice
x Each of the five sources is appropriate for use in a scholarly
paper.
x Each of the five sources meets the “ASPECT” criteria for this
topic.
Citations & Attributions
x Each of the five sources is cited both in the text and in a
works cited
section using an academic citation format (such as MLA, APA,
CBE,
etc.).
x It is clear at all points which ideas are yours and whom other
ideas are

19. UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 9
from.
Readability The writing is well organized and the pieces are
connected together:
x Each paragraph addresses one main point.
x Topic are sentences easy to identify.
x Ideas follow each other logically, with the connections
between ideas
explained.
The writing is clear and unambiguous throughout.
Professionalism The document header includes your name, the
date, and the title of the
article you are writing about.
The file is named according the file naming conventions
described in the
syllabus.
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 10
Closing Impression, Week 10
This assignment description will be given during week 10. It

20. will ask you to write approximately
500 words, and it will not require outside sources.
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 11
Final Reflection, Exam Week
Write a letter of at least 600 words reflecting on what you
learned this quarter.
First, please fill in the following, providing specific information
and examples:
� I used to think ______ [elaborate].
� But now I think ________ [elaborate].
Next, please answer the following questions:
� How do two of the lenses apply to some other part of your
life (other classes,
books or articles you have read, your work, your hobbies, or
other interests)? Be
specific and provide examples (even hypothetical ones).
� What did you learn from this class that surprised you? Why
did it surprise you?
� What are you still left wondering? What else would you like
to have learned
about?
To answer these questions, you should draw on class
discussions and lecture materials about

21. the various lenses and other concepts.
The final reflection will be graded on completeness, clarity, and
professionalism, as defined
throughout this document.
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 12
Appendix A: Overall Grading Standards
Written work will be evaluated for each criterion as “Good,”
“Mostly Good,” “Needs Some
Work” or “Need Work” for each criterion.
The overall grade for each assignment will be a combination of
the criteria, such that:
• “A” work is Good for all criteria.
• “B” work is Mostly Good or Good for all criteria.
• “C” work is Mostly Good for most criteria but Needs Some
Work in a few.
• “D” work Needs Work for at least half of the criteria.
Plus and minus grades will be used.
Grades are not divided with points per category. “A” work must
be “Good” in all areas.
Attention to detail matters.
Late work may be marked down one full letter grade for each
calendar day it is late.
We do not curve grades.

22. UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 13
Appendix B: Calendar of All Assignment Due Dates
What When Where Grade
%
Opening Impression 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, January
07
Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
2
O&C 1 on Yong, draft The start of your discussion
section on Friday, January 8
Bring to discussion --
O&C-01 on Yong 3:00 p.m. on Monday, January 11 Upload to
SmartSite
Assignments
2
O&C-02 on Margulis & Case 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12
Upload to SmartSite
Assignments

23. 2
O&C-03 on Steingraber 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 14
Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
2
A&P-01 on Cold & Hot 1 in
Yong (draft)
The start of your discussion
section on Friday, January 15
Bring to discussion --
A&P-01 on Cold & Hot 1 Yong 3:00 p.m. on Monday, January
18 Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
10
O&C-04 on Kintisch 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 19 Upload
to SmartSite
Assignments
2
O&C-05 on Mnookin 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 21 Upload
to SmartSite
Assignments
2
A&P-02 on Background &
Definitions in Specter

24. 3:00 p.m. on Monday, January 25 Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
10
O&C-06 on Freedman 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26
Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
2
O&C-07 on Maxmen 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 28 Upload
to SmartSite
Assignments
2
UWP 011, Winter 2016 Assignments 14
A&P-03 on Study in
Schweizter
3:00 p.m. on Monday, February 1 Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
10
O&C-08 on Goodell 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 2 Upload
to SmartSite
Assignments

25. 2
O&C-09 on Jarvis 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 4 Upload to
SmartSite
Assignments
2
AP-04 on Cold & Hot 2 in
Boyle
3:00 p.m. on Monday, February 8 Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
10
O&C-10 on Yeoman 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9 Upload
to SmartSite
Assignments
2
O&C-11 on Nijhuis 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, February
11
Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
2
A&P-05 on Expertise in
Yeoman
3:00 p.m. on Monday, February
15

26. Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
10
O&C-12 on Hamilton 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16
Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
2
O&C-13 on Keith 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, February
18
Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
2
A&P-06 on Epideictic in
Context in Jacobsen
3:00 p.m. on Monday, February
22
Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
10
OCAP 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 3 Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
15
Concluding Impression 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 10

27. Upload to SmartSite
Assignments
2
Reflection 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 15 Upload to
SmartSite
Assignments
2