Do Bacteria Run The Show?

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Are humans merely vehicles for accomplishing the objectives of bacteria (and life in general) to spread itself?  Here is a hypothesis paper that suggests that prokaryotes (e.g., bacteria) have followed a two-pronged strategy to shape higher eukaryotes (e.g., humans) to achieve the end of spreading bacteria worldwide and spacewide: via the mitochondria (derived from an ancient prokaryote and symbiosis) and the microbiome. Of course, we are not talking about conscious strategies; there is no anthropomorphizing of bacteria!  But the end result of selection and the general tendency of life to find ways of spreading has led to this conclusion. Abstract:

Beyond considering that humans are not just composed of eukaryotic cells but also of a huge number of microbes playing pivotal roles in the overall organism functioning, in this article it is additionally suggested to look at eukaryotic cells as a kind of evolved community of bacteria-derived individuals. Mitochondria are fundamental organelles for energy production, but also for driving cell fate. Although it is perfectly established that mitochondria are phylogenetically linked to bacteria, with theories suggesting they survived in a symbiotic parasitism within an ancestral eukaryotic cell, we alternatively encourage their consideration as the main orchestrators of eukaryogenesis. Bacteria gradually evolved into mitochondria, while the social interrelationship and architecture of a prokaryotic community transformed into eukaryotic cells. Last but not least, given the role of bacteria on Panspermia, and by converging mitochondrion and microbiome potential to respectively modulate cell and whole organism functioning, we wonder whether superior animals and in particular humans might be so far the most evolved product coming from two main bacterial socio-evolutive strategies engaged in an attempt to endure living matter expansion.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, independently of whether humans are simply a “clothing”, a subject hijacked by the host or the final refined product resulting from the convergence of two different microbial socio-evolutive strategies, it might be worth giving more consideration to the fact that the ultimate “aim” of bio-evolution is not humans but the perpetuation of living matter. Humans could be just a piece of the whole biosphere puzzle and might not be necessarily the most important nor the end result. We may simply be the most sophisticated living matter approach, intentional or not, engaged in an attempt to endure a goal of bioevolution that is panspermia (38-44,113-116).