There are anaerobic bacteria that don’t need oxygen to survive. That was the norm before The Great Oxidation Event when cyanobacteria started releasing oxygen into the atmosphere during photosynthesis. Prior to that there was very little oxygen in the atmosphere, and anaerobic bacteria ruled the world.
After the GOE the high concentration of oxygen killed off most of the anaerobic bacteria, and what was left were organisms that made a blood truce with oxygen. Aerobic organisms gained incredible power from utilizing oxygen for metabolism, but eventually die from the accumulated damage the oxygen does to them.
Wow, I know so little about this topic and I’m learning all kinds of cool things. Thanks for the comment. I’d never thought about aerobic being the opposite of anaerobic before either.
So if this is true, why do we need it to live?
There are anaerobic bacteria that don’t need oxygen to survive. That was the norm before The Great Oxidation Event when cyanobacteria started releasing oxygen into the atmosphere during photosynthesis. Prior to that there was very little oxygen in the atmosphere, and anaerobic bacteria ruled the world.
After the GOE the high concentration of oxygen killed off most of the anaerobic bacteria, and what was left were organisms that made a blood truce with oxygen. Aerobic organisms gained incredible power from utilizing oxygen for metabolism, but eventually die from the accumulated damage the oxygen does to them.
Wow, I know so little about this topic and I’m learning all kinds of cool things. Thanks for the comment. I’d never thought about aerobic being the opposite of anaerobic before either.
Organisms need some oxidizing agent to respire. We use oxygen because it’s very highly reactive and thanks to photosynthesis is goddamn everywhere.
Can you explain that first part in more detail? I really know nothing about this and I’m curious to hear more.