In his essay “The Lives of a Cell,” Lewis Thomas notes that although humans think of themselves to be independent of nature, they are fundamentally interconnected with other living organisms. Humans aren’t just connected in the larger sense of the planet, says Thomas, but also at the cellular level. Thomas argues that human survival wouldn’t be possible without the help from the microscopic and independently acting organisms that are present in the human body. Organisms such as mitochondria and bacteria are relied on by humans, just like other living things depend on other organisms in a similar manner. Thomas notes that viruses could be viewed as an evolutionary ability, helping to insert DNA. He also notes that the earth better resembles
