Mitochondria were(are?) bacteria, so technically we can't live without bacteria ... | Hacker News

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zelos on Aug 20, 2025 | parent | context | favorite | on: Tiny microbe challenges the definition of cellular...

Mitochondria were(are?) bacteria, so technically we can't live without bacteria really.

IAmBroom on Aug 20, 2025 [–]

AFAIK no examples of independent mitochondria exist in nature nor the lab currently, so they (almost certainly) WERE bacteria (by some definition), but ARE NOT currently.

Ship of Theseus, obviously.

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