Quotes from Nick Lane

Occam's razor, the philosophical basis of all science: assume the simplest natural cause. That answer might turn out not to be correct, but we should not resort to more complex reasoning unless it is shown to be necessary.

But whatever our beliefs, this richness of understanding should be a cause for marvel and celebration.

This was difficult to prove as most hydrogenosomes have lost their entire genome, but it is now established with some certainty.1 In other words, whatever bacteria entered into a symbiotic relationship in the first eukaryotic cell, its descendents numbered among them both mitochondria and hydrogenosomes.

Cambrian period, some 550 million years ago, soon after a big global rise in atmospheric oxygen.