Rethinking the Origin of Eukaryotes.

Abstract

The field of early cellular evolution is currently in serious confusion. We have more and better data than we dared dream of a decade ago, and many of us have ventured to give strong answers to deep evolutionary questions. But now these answers often seem mutually incompatible, and no comprehensive scenario for early cell evolution can account for all the data that are available. Since many of the speakers before and after me have, or will have, addressed the conundra represented by individual sets of data, and since all recognize that there is a problem, I will try to present this problem from a comprehensive historical perspective.