Lynn Margulis Facts
Lynn Margulis Facts
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| Interesting Lynn Margulis Facts: |
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| Lynn Margulis was the oldest of four daughters born to Morris and Leona Alexander in Chicago. |
| In 1952 she entered Hyde Park Academy where she was a gifted student and at the age of 15 was accepted to the University of Chicago Laboratory School. |
| In 1957 she earned her B.A. in Liberal Arts and she transferred to the University of Wisconsin where she received a M.S. in genetics and zoology in 1960. |
| She received a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley with her thesis, An Unusual Pattern of Thymidine Incorporation in Euglena. |
| From 1966 to 1988 she was a professor of biology at Boston University. |
| In 1966 she wrote a paper named "On the Origin of Mitosing Cells" which was rejected most of the scientific journals until finally being accepted for publication by the Journal of Theoretical Biology. |
| Her theory was that the symbiotic relationships of prokaryotic organisms eventually evolved into eukaryotic cells and is important in understanding the role of organelles. |
| Her theory was the first to utilize direct microbiological observation and gained support in the 1980's when it was discovered that the genetic material of mitochondria and chloroplasts is different that the DNA of the nucleus. |
| In 1988 she was appointed Distinguished Professor of Botany at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and in 1997 she became Distinguished Professor of Geosciences there. |
| She proposed the idea that bacteria and viruses carry information to eukaryotic cells and are a driving force in evolution. |
| This theory is not widely accepted at this time but further research is warranted. |
| She has baffled some of her fellow scientists for her support of several controversies, including AIDS denialism, 9/11 truth committees, and anti-Darwinism. |
| Among her many awards are the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1978, fellowship in the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1975, and in 2008 she was one of the thirteen recipients of the Darwin-Wallace Medal given by the Linnean Society of London. |
| In 2010 she received the NASA Public Service Award for Astrobiology. |
| Her papers are archived in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. |
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