‘One of my favourite science writers’ Bill Gates
‘Hugely important’ Jim Al-Khalili
‘A profound meditation on metabolism, the Krebs cycle & the origin of life’ Anil Seth
For decades, biology has been dominated by information — the power of genes. Yet there is no difference in information content between a living cell and one that died a moment ago. A better question goes back to the formative years of biology: what processes animate cells and set them apart from lifeless matter?
In Transformer, Nick Lane turns the standard view upside down, capturing an extraordinary scientific renaissance that is hiding in plain sight. At its core is an amazing cycle of reactions that uses energy to transform inorganic molecules into the building blocks of life — and the reverse. To understand this cycle is to fathom the deep coherence of the living world. It connects the origin of life with the devastation of cancer, the first photosynthetic bacteria with our own mitochondria, sulphurous sludges with the emergence of consciousness, and the trivial differences between ourselves with the large-scale history of our planet.
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Nick Lane is a biochemist in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. ‘Like his forebears in that same department — Steve Jones, JBS Haldane — he’s that rare species, a scientist who can illuminate the bewildering complexities of biology with clear, luminous words’ (Observer). His research focuses on the role of bioenergetics in the origin of life and the evolution of cells. Nick was awarded the 2015 Biochemical Society Award for his outstanding contribution to the molecular life sciences. He has published four critically acclaimed books, which have been translated into 20 languages. Life Ascending won the 2010 Royal Society Prize for Science Books. The Independent described him as ‘one of the most exciting science writers of our time.’
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