Midichlorians! What are they?

Everyone has seen the wonder of microscopic life played out on the big screen - Through the midichlorians of Star Wars. These lifeforms are able to give force wielders powers and in that universe are thought to be where all life originates. In this universe it is likely that these midichlorians have shared genes that are present within all lifeforms, and this allows all to feel what is dubbed as “the force.” As with all genes, some traits are expressed stronger in some and less so in others. It is this strong expression which gives rise to the jedi, and their strong connection to the force.

Through media we see that the number of Jedi declines, primarily through an act of genocide, and their numbers never truly recover. This could further support the idea that a specific gene is required to have a significant connection to the force. With there being limited numbers of their kind left, it is likely that sharing this gene through inheritance will fail to replenish what was lost and future Jedi will come about my random genome mutations - in other words, chance.

So now that we know how these jedi connect to the force, it is time to discuss what the force actually is and to do that we need to define midichlorians. In the Star Wars universe these organisms seem to make up the basis of their microscopic world. By this I mean that they are on every surface, inside every living thing and (unlike our world) even in space! These lifeforms seem to have no direct impact on the wellbeing of individuals in the universe and so what role do they play?

In media we have seen jedi use the force to perform a variety of feats. These acts of magic can be explained by thinking of midichlorians as physical lifeforms that are too small to see with the naked eye. In our world we could define them as a type of microorganism and study them using standard scientific principles. But we study microorganisms primarily because they cause disease and through our study, we are able to define other positive uses for these organisms. But as midichlorians likely only ever supported life, there was no need to study them in significant depth and so in their universe the study of microbiology was never founded.

It is probable that during early life in the universe, midichlorians played a very symbiotic role and aided in supporting life. They will have aided in the utilisation of food/nutrients, breathing the atmosphere if uninhabitable and acted to prevent infection. As time progressed these lifeforms will have become vital for all life and their effects less noticeable. But to the jedi their presence could be tuned into and allow for magic like powers.

We have all seen a jedi lift an object through the power of the force. An act which can be explained by organising the midichlorians around an object to act in unison and lift it via their collective numbers. It has also been shown that jedi can alter peoples’ thoughts through the force, an act which would involve communicating with the midichlorians within another lifeform and altering their chemical output – resulting in manipulation of the mind. It has also been shown that some force wielders are able to summon and control lightning. This can be explained via an electrostatic connection that would exist between the wielder and the external midichlorians present within the air. This type of force use would require significant energy, and as a result users would appear to age rapidly after its use.

This is of course just a brief overview to midichlorians and the force. It is also simply my interpretation as to how it all works, and some elements have been made accessible for ease of reading. But it is truly fascinating to consider that science would evolve differently depending on the needs of a society, and that a power which is so important in the Star Wars universe is untimely undefined as a result.