Universal symbiogenesis: a genuine alternative to universal selectionist accounts.

Abstract

The process of symbiogenesis need not be confined to either the microcosm or the origin of eukaryotic beings.On the contrary, just as natural selection today is being universalized by evolutionary biologists and evolutionary epistemologists, symbiogenesis can be universalized as well.It will be argued that in its universalized form, symbiogenesis can provide: (1) a general tool to examine various forms of interaction between different biological organisms (regular symbiogenesis, hybridization, virus-host interactions), and ( 2) new metaphors for extra-biological fields such as cosmology, the cultural sciences, and language.Universal symbiogenesis can thus complement universal selectionist accounts of evolution.