Matriarchy and Mitochondria 

If there is a single underlying theme across American TV sitcoms, it may be the proverbial ‘Battle of the Sexes’, or as we might say today, ‘Gender Wars’.

Who rules the American family…and by extension perhaps, the rest of society? Is it the ‘perpetually puffed up patriarch’ or his ‘mild mannered but manipulative better half’? 

Channel surf late night cable stations (the preferred leisure time activity of my fellow insomniacs and me) and you’ll get a graduate level education in gender politics. Typically, a blundering man is skillfully managed by a wily woman. As with Peacocks, the man is all feathers! “Full of high sentence but a bit obtuse/At times, indeed, almost ridiculous/Almost at times, the Fool.” (Eliot)

Or you might just put your clicker down and get to know your Mitochondria. These tiny organelles, found exclusively in the cytoplasm of animal cells, reinforce the social prominence of gender. 

Their rendition is less humorous than the sitcoms they inspire, but it delivers an intriguing and frankly inspiring model of social organization. Who knew that a bunch of degenerate bacteria had so much to do with our survival and timely death? Who knew they had so much to teach us?

An article by Jennifer N.R. Smith, published in the June 2025 issue of Biology, literally blew the lid off. Let me summarize her relevant insights, using her own words whenever possible (quotation marks below indicate text from the article) and adding a few comments of my own along the way:

“Biologist Lynn Margulis postulated in 1967 that mitochondria descend from a single bacterium that was engulfed by a larger ancestral cell about 1.5 billion years ago. Instead of consuming this tidbit, the larger cell let it continue living within: endosymbiosis.”

The emergence of a eukaryotic cell (cell with a nucleus) was a watershed moment in the evolution of our terrestrial biosphere…and it may have happened only once.

The eukaryotic cell is the basic building block of all complex multi-cellular organisms. The ‘evolutionary leap’ from prokaryotic bacteria (no nucleus) to eukaryotic slime molds (nucleus) was huge compared to the more modest step from sponges to homo sapiens. Wrap your head around that…if you can! 

So, if on balance you’ve had a good life, you owe a debt of gratitude to a single enterprising and compassionate cell that treated its prey with respect and offered partnership on generous terms. And if not, now you know who to blame (and it’s not mommy and daddy)!

(Had the allied nations treated Germany half so well after World War I, the 2nd World War and the slaughter of 6 million Jews might have been avoided.)  

The ‘prey’ became the nucleus of the cell, determining most of the cell’s characteristics, housing its precious DNA, and guiding much of its behavior.  

Perhaps the oldest fragment of philosophical writing in Europe comes from Anaximander (6th century BCE). If I read it right (per Heidegger), it states that actual beings ‘emerge’ when and only when virtual beings ‘grant each other reck’, i.e. respect, consideration, etc. 

When I step back and allow you to be yourself and when at the same time, with no expectation of reciprocity, you do the same for me, we emerge from the fog of potentiality and become ‘who we are’ – and we are neither rock nor island, no matter how much we might wish otherwise.

A similar insight is prominent in the New Testament and in the works of Martin Buber, drawing on his familiarity with Hasidic Judaism.

Once the phenomenon of endosymbiosis was established, why stop with just a nucleus? Why not invite another cell to join the eukaryotic enterprise? And so a certain eukaryotic cell, a descendant of the primordial eukaryotic cell,  spread its wings and absorbed another, entirely independent bacterium, et voila, Earth’s first mitochondrion! And again, it only happened once!

Your body is made up almost entirely of eukaryotic cells, 30 trillion of them at any one time, each with anywhere from 100 to 1,000 mitochondria. So all animals have three unique ancestors in common: the eukaryotic cell that curated the first mitochondrion, the prokaryotic cell that curated the first nucleus, and the primordial DNA/RNA molecule that synthesized only once (on Earth).   

Mitochondria incessantly grant reck, to each other, to the cells that house them, and to the organisms formed by those cells! They are a tangible manifestation of Anaximander’s concept of ontogenesis. They knew 1.5 billion years ago lessons in cooperation that we’re struggling to learn today. 

So, let’s get to know our own mitochondria. Keeping to our theme, Matriarchy, it’s important to note that we inherit our mitochondrial DNA exclusively from our mothers. The nucleus needs a dad, but the contents of the cytoplasm are all mom. 

“Mitochondria (in human cells) have their own DNA, which consists of only 37 genes, compared with the thousands of genes in the spiraling chromosomes (DNA) inside the cell nucleus.”

Mitochondria build and support community in two ways via two different media. First, they communicate; second, they share resources and respond to calls for help.

They not only talk among themselves within a cell, they also talk with their mates across cell walls. They form Trotsky’s ideal International – members communicating with one another in local cadres and then with members of other cadres, ultimately forming a truly global, yet decentralized, communications network. No wonder the biological revolution on Earth was so successful!

Intercellular communication is prerequisite for the evolution of multicellular organisms like your own tired self. Unlike contemporary millennials, communication plays an absolutely essential role in the social life of mitochondria: 

“Mitochondria communicate, both within their own cells and among other cells…Mitochondria from different parts of the body talk to one another, using hormones as their language…The mitochondrial collective operates as a mitochondrial information-processing system, or MIPS.

“This bioenergetic state then leads to the production of secondary messenger molecules that are intelligible to the nucleus…The nucleus of your cells can read the environment through the MIPS that surrounds it…They reach out to one another to help their community to thrive and also to support one another in times of distress.”  

Unlike the familiar double-helix residing in the cell’s nucleus, mitochondrial DNA forms a ring typical of prokaryotic cells. 

“This ring of mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, is sheltered within two membranes. The outer shell, shaped like the skin of a sausage, encases the mitochondrion and selectively allows molecules to enter or exit. The inner membrane is made of densely packed proteins and has many folds, called cristae, which serve as a site for chemical reactions…

“…Even when mitochondria looked unhealthy (overall), their cristae looked healthy at places where the mitochondria touched one another…The cristae line up…(they) formed parallel ribbons undulating across mitochondria. 

“Could mitochondrial junctions and aligned cristae operate like neuronal synapses with the resulting mitochondrial collective behaving essentially like an intracellular brain?”

Today, we are breathlessly searching for consciousness beyond Homo Sapiens. Most of us are now willing to grant ‘most favored species’ status to certain other humanoids and primates and to some marine mammals. Many are willing to include certain species of birds, insects, and cephalopods in the big tent. But what about organisms that lack a traditional brain? How could such an organism be conscious?  

Ms. Smith suggests that networks of mitochondria could constitute an intra- cellular brain, or perhaps even an inter-cellular one! Mitochondria give a whole new meaning to phrases like ‘social consciousness’ and ‘distributed intelligence’. 

Imagine what our world would be like if we humans shared our brains with other members of our species? Or with members of other species? The Sci-fi potential is unlimited!

Supporting this hypothesis is the realization that mitochondria use the same mechanism for communication as neurons in the human brain: microtubules.  

“Mitochondria send thin tubular structures out toward one another, like feelers that some solitary cells use to search for a more hospitable environment or a healthy fellow cell…” 

People whose mitochondria are unhealthy have more of these nanotunnels than usual. This suggests that these unhealthy mitochondria might be reaching out for help.

“Healthy mitochondria can donate intact mtDNA to mutant mitochondria. In conditions of scarce energy supply, mitochondria fuse with one another into long strands to share mtDNA.”

“Interestingly, brain mitochondria have receptors to sense both stress and sex hormones. So we have a population of mitochondria in the adrenal glands that signal directly, via the blood, to mitochondria in the brain. (They talk to each other through their isolating cell walls.)

“…Mitochondria show all the features of social beings—a shared environment inside the cell or body, communication, formation of groups or types, synchronization of behavior, interdependence, and specialization in the tasks they perform.

“Rather than having supplementary roles like those of battery chargers, mitochondria are more like the motherboard of the cell. Genes sit inert in the nucleus until energy and the right message come along to turn some of them on and some others off. Mitochondria provide these messages…

“…Mitochondria not only are involved in integrating information but also give orders. They dictate whether the cell divides, differentiates or dies. Indeed, mitochondria have a veto on cell life or death. If the MIPS deems it necessary, it triggers programmed cell death…a form of self-sacrifice for the greater good of the organism.”

Can the wisdom of the mitochondria inform our own debates re end of life care and euthanasia? 

On the one hand, mitochondria are all about the procreation and preservation of life: 

• They care for the other mitochondria in their cell, as well as mitochondria in nearby cells. 

• They share their healthy DNA with less well-endowed mates. 

• They share energy resources with sick or starving compatriots. 

• They form networks for processing and communicating information within multicellular organisms. 

• They are chemical stash houses, supplying most of the energy that powers their host cells.  

On the other hand though, they know when to quit, when ‘enough’s enough’, No Mas! and Nature has empowered them to make that ‘life or death’ call for themselves, for their host cells, and for the uber-organism they support. 

They go ‘all in’ for life, but when the time comes, they do ‘go gentle into that good night’. (Thomas) Do we have something to learn here?

We are as we are thanks to the mitochondria our moms passed on to us. Of course, their moms passed it on to them…all the way back to ‘Eve’. So going forward, you might want to tone down that male machismo, just a bit!

Chicago, Judy. The Dinner Party. 1974–79, Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, New York. Chicago’s iconic installation reclaims feminine legacy and power, much like mitochondria—passed exclusively through mothers—redefine our understanding of biological and social authority.