From Bioblast
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MiPculture
MiPtheatre
- Outline of MiPscript for MiPtheatre:
- Storyteller: Wellcome to our story. My name is Darwin, Charles Darwin, and I am going to tell you a short story of the two billion year evolution of mitochondria and complex life on earth - all condensed for your pleasure into 10 minutes.
- Cast your minds back two billion years to some primeval puddle before any eukaryotic life existed on earth. We can hear the loft hiss of hydrothermal vents and the roar of volcanoes, but no hums or tweets from any complex life-form: – there are none.
- But fear not – in the primeval puddle, we find two primitive life forms battling it out in an evolutionary struggle for the survival of the fittest. In the left corner, we have an archaea cell, a brutal monster destined for great things. And in the right corner we have our local hero, a small but up and coming energetic proto-bacterium destined for life as a proto-mitochondria.
- They slug it out, trading punch for punch, insult for insult, until … the inevitable happens: the proto-mitochondria is engulfed by the proto-nucleus.
- The proto-mitochondria is imprisoned within the larger cells and enslaved, put to work pumping out energy, while the nucleus enslaves further organelles: the chloroplast, golgi, ER and peroxisomes (gasps from audience!). The nucleus becomes big, fat bully telling the others just what to do (Boos from the audience!).
- Now the nucleus puts his feet up and sucks on a fat cigar (looks like a Banker to me!) , while the organelles slave away – until … the organelles start to bicker about their work and complain about the overbearing nucleus. Revolution is in the air! The organelles band together and overthrow the nucleus – our local hero, the proto-mitochondra breaks his bonds and throws the nucleus out of the cell!
- Now they start threatening the Storyteller!!! And throw him out!!! Wait this isn’t in the script!!!! (Storyteller thrown out)
- Proto-mitochondria: That story was rubbish! Out with Darwin & Dawkins ! Down with patriarchy and the struggle for existence! Forget the survival of the fittest! We want a new story inspired by Lyn Margulis, - a story of love and peace, a story of co-operation not competition. Let us come together of our own free wills for the common good. Let us all hold hands fellow organelles, and form a communal cell. Let us make Love not War! And through our Love may we beget complex life forms that may populate the planet - without generating too much CO2. (The Golgi gets out his guitar. All the organelles join hands and sing the cool MiPsong together).
- The End
MiPsong
- Imagine there is flavin
- It's easy if you try
- One big cell around us
- Above us: only Guy
- Imagine organelles living for today
- Imagine proton pumping
- It isn't hard to do
- NADH to fuel us
- and FADH2
- Imagine organelles living life in peace
- You may say I am MiPpish
- But I'm not the only one
- We hope some day you'll join us
- And the cell will be as one
- All you need are pumps
- All you need are pumps
- All you need are pumps, pumps
- Pumps are all you need
- When I find myself in time of trouble, Father Erich comes to me
- Speaking words of wisdom, ATP
- And in my hour of darkness he is standing right in front of me
- Speaking words of wisdom, ATP
- ATP, ATP, ATP not ADP
- Whisper words of wisdom, ATP
- ATP, ATP, ATP not ADP
- Whisper words of wisdom, ATP
- Composed by Andrew Murray and colleagues (Trinity Hall, Cambridge, MiPsummer 2012).
