In this episode, evolutionary biochemist, professor and writer Nick Lane joins us to talk about how life evolves from an energy flow perspective.
Nick Lane’s research is on the way that energy flow has shaped evolution over 4 billion years, using a mixture of theoretical and experimental work to address the origin of life, the evolution of complex cells and downright peculiar behaviour such as sex.
We dive deep into the origin of life and early evolution: hydrothermal vents, the krebs cycle which is a cycle of reactions that uses energy to transform inorganic molecules into the building blocks of life and the reverse, and the importance of vents having an electrical charge, co2, hydrogen, and a system that converts gasses.
Additionally we talk about the eukaryotic cell and multicellularity in the origin of animals.
Dive in! And learn how life evolves from an amazing biochemist perspective!
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Who is Nick Lane?
Nick Lane is Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London.
He was a founding member of the UCL Consortium for Mitochondrial Research, and is Co-Director of the UCL Centre for Life’s Origin and Evolution (CLOE).
Lane is the author of five acclaimed books on evolutionary biochemistry. His most recent book is Transformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death.
Topics:
Welcome Nick Lane to The Rhys Show!: (00:00:00)
Goal for listeners: (00:02:14)
How Nick thinks about the world before life: (00:02:58)
Thoughts about the big bang period between 14 billion and 4 billion years ago from a biochemist lens: (00:07:44)
How did life start?: (00:10:39)
More about energy is first, krebs cycle is first and metabolism is first: (00:17:56)
Biology overtime: how Nick thinks about those 4 billion years to us and how energy plays a role in it: (00:38:10)
Wrap-up & about aging and how these electrical charges on membrane rundown: (00:55:26)
Nick Lane’s books:
Oxygen: The molecule that made the world: https://nick-lane.net/books/oxygen-the-molecule-that-made-the-world/
Power, sex, suicide: Mitochondria and the meaning of life: https://nick-lane.net/books/power-sex-suicide-mitochondria-meaning-life/
Life ascending: The ten great inventions of evolution: https://nick-lane.net/books/life-ascending-the-ten-great-inventions-of-evolution/
The vital question. Why is life the way it is?: https://nick-lane.net/books/the-vital-question-why-is-life-the-way-it-is/
Transformer: The deep chemistry of life and death: https://nick-lane.net/books/transformer-the-deep-chemistry-of-life-and-death/
Connect with Nick Lane:
Personal Web: https://nick-lane.net/
The Rhys Show