"Until the late nineteenth century, lichens were understood as individual organisms. It was then suggested, controversially, that a lichen was, in fact, a partnership. The division between the partners might have been invisible at first, but underneath a microscope, it was plain as day: a lichen was a pact between a fungus and an alga. Scientists began to speak of symbiosis: not survival of the fittest, but cooperation, reciprocity, partnership." In this lovely piece Jennifer Croft derives lessons in translation from a microscopic natural partnership.
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