This article intends to continue our previous work on the symbiogenic approach to chemical and biological evolution.
We believe that cooperative and synergistic processes were responsible, using terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials,
for the creation of a large prebiotic pool, closely related to geochemical contexts, and intense interactions within.
Probably, a series of synergistic and cooperative effects produced a wide source of creativity, and functional advantages
that pushed the emergence of complex and functionally integrated biological systems, through the evolution of self-organization
and auto-catalysis. It was only after this biochemical evolution of structures, which produced the
informational capabilities necessary for self-replication, that the Darwinian mechanisms could arise. This way of
perceiving the emergence of life follows the proposals regarding life's initial evolution in which the progenote proposed
consisted in an open community of very diverse primitive cellular entities with intense symbiotic associations,
antagonisms, and competition, and with a rapid and reticulate pattern of evolution. We believe this symbiogenic
approach should be considered in the understanding of chemical and biological evolution. This discussion contributes to
the development of astrobiological knowledge, since it gives other perspectives about life's appearance and development
on Earth and elsewhere.
Evolution is usually taught as the result of mutations and genetic recombinations combined with natural selection, but most living forms have symbiotic relationships with microorganisms, and in this sense symbiogenesis seems to play a very important role in the origin and life evolution. Symbiosis is an important support for the acquisition of new genomes and new metabolic capacities, which drives living forms' evolution. In this sense, the evolutionary changes can be explained by an integrated cooperation between organisms, in which symbiosis acts, not as an exception, but rather as the rule in nature. Beginning with the eukaryotic cell formation, symbiogenesis appears to be the main evolutionary mechanism in the establishment and maintenance of biomes, as well as the foundation of biodiversity, based on rather suddenly evolutionary novelty, which challenges the Darwinian gradualism. These principles can be applied to the life on Earth and beyond.
Making science was and always will be a continuous challenge; however teaching science is a step forth. A good example is astrobiology. Defined as the scientific study of biological processes on Earth and beyond, it connects research in chemistry, physics, biology, geology, astronomy and planetary sciences. This interconnected scientific network allows us to visualize a new approach of the life's nature and its origins and development on Earth and elsewhere in the universe. With these goals, we wish to look within the nature of life, observing a new paradigm in the construction of the scientific knowledge. Teaching astrobiology is not an easy task. There are several constrains, such as treating and integrating diverse areas of knowledge and teaching a science that embraces so many questions presently unanswered and on which students have so many doubts and wrong pre-instructional beliefs. Another obstacle is the rapidly spreading of Intelligent Design, the new incarnation of creationism, which considers astrobiology as a danger for its policies, dogmas and philosophy. However, the principal barrier for teaching astrobiology is, without doubt, the difficulty to integrate this science in the curricular domain.
The concept of symbiogenesis was introduced in 1909 by the Russian biologist Constantin Merezhkowsky as "the origin of organisms by the combination or by the association of two or several beings which enter into symbiosis". In this article we develop this idea, associated to the Freeman Dyson's hypothesis, applied to the early evolutive stages of life, considering that it could be a possible main rule in the appearance and development of life conditions on Earth and elsewhere. A cooperative, synergistic strategy should be considered as having been the determinant in the development of the survival of the fittest, especially under extremely adverse environmental conditions. This concept must be also applied to the first communities of cells as the base supporting evolution of the early "tree of life". Cells, like we have previously described, can be included in a new cellular concept entitled, "symbiocell", since survival of the community under such adverse conditions required a cooperative, synergistic strategy. Similar principles could also be used to understand chemical pre-biotic evolution. We believe that astrobiologists should consider it as a new approach to understand organic and biological evolution.
Astrobiology is a rapidly evolving discipline and, in order for its information to be passed on, it is urgent and necessary for Astrobiology to be integrated into the curricular domain, as well as into public and private scientific policies. The latter would contribute to the understanding of both the dynamic construction of scientific knowledge, and the spreading of science as a cultural imperative.
This paper continues our previous work on Astrobiology education and public outreach. In this sense, we will present a curricular proposal on Astrobiology, which we would like to see integrated into the scientific areas of Portuguese secondary schools. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to select the most adequate and important key ideas for teaching, and to adapt the most complex scientific language to the school context. Finally, the right tools and strategies were created and developed to attain the proposed objectives. Several examples of these ideas, tools and strategies are discussed in the present article.
KEYWORDS: Bacteria, Organisms, Nitrogen, Telecommunications, Systems modeling, Space operations, Biological research, Communication engineering, Proteins, Applied research
Azolla is an aquatic fern that contains a permanent endosymbiotic prokaryotic community (cyanobacteria and bacteria) inside of the cavity in the leaf dorsal lobe of the pteridophyte. This is a unique situation and can be seen as a microcosm inside of an organism and also can be considered a good example of a living model for biological and environmental studies. These symbionts are specific of this symbiosis and lives immobilized in a mucilaginous fibrillar network, which fills part of the cavity. The symbionts works as immobilized organisms in a natural system that can be used as a model for biotechnological research and in biologically based life support systems. The nature and the complexity of this system is simultaneously a reference and a challenge for the research in the communication between the two levels of nature organization (microcosm and mesocosm), and can also be used as a reference for the design of new environmental engineered symbiotic systems that include man as a prelude to life in space.
KEYWORDS: Communication and information technologies, Internet, Ecosystems, Microorganisms, Space operations, Mars, Geology, Biology, Planets, Astrobiology
Astrobiology is a new multi-disciplinary field of knowledge concerned with the study of the origin, distribution, and destiny of life in the universe and, naturally, in our planet. For this goal we must introduce and develop the adequate tools for teaching this science in schools and universities. New curricula, with a more open mind, must be established for the formation of the present and future generations of students and also, in our point of view, of teachers. One example of this effort can be seen in the Portuguese project A Journey to the Origins. Astrobiology in the Lab, where secondary school students recreate experiments regarding the Origin of Life and Cellular Evolution. The work will be widened to the educational community through the carrying out of Open Laboratory Sessions, conferences and the drawing up of a digital portfolio compiling all of the material developed by students and teachers throughout the project. A proposal will be made to restructure the curriculum to include a new unit entitled 'Astrobiology and Cellular Evolution'. The repercussions of this innovative paradigm could be seen in the future, not only in the educational community, but also in the society in general.
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