Dwarkesh Podcast Nick Lane – Life as we know it is chemically inevitable
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Oct 10, 2025 
In this conversation, Nick Lane, an evolutionary biochemist at University College London, dives into the origins of life and the role of eukaryotes. He suggests that early life may have emerged from hydrothermal vents, explaining why life relies on proton gradients and why complex cells evolved only once. Lane discusses how two sexes evolved for mitochondrial quality control and how early life’s chemistry implies its prevalence across the galaxy. He connects these theories to the large-scale patterns seen in eukaryotic evolution and challenges listeners to embrace scientific curiosity.
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Eukaryotic Cells Are A Singular Evolutionary Jump
- Eukaryotic cells contain shared complex machinery (nucleus, endomembranes, mitochondria) absent in prokaryotes.
- That shared kit implies a single origin of eukaryotes ~2 billion years ago, a major evolutionary singularity.
Proton Gradients Underlie Universal Energy Use
- Mitochondria and bacterial respiration universally use membrane proton gradients and ATP synthase.
- That conserved chemiosmotic machinery likely traces back to the common ancestors of all cells.
Hydrothermal Vents Link Geochemistry To Life
- Deep-sea alkaline hydrothermal vents offer cell-like pores, proton gradients, and catalytic minerals that could drive CO2+H2 chemistry.
- This continuity between geochemistry and metabolism suggests life could emerge chemically inevitably under such conditions.
