TRANSFORMER

An enthusiastic, up-to-date overview of the biochemistry of life.

Lane, a professor of evolutionary biology and author of The Vital Question and Life Ascending, reminds us that energy flow animates cells and sets them apart from inanimate matter. All creatures produce energy, and all living tissues consume it; the second law of thermodynamics assures that this process is imperfect. The vicissitudes of life unravel the delicate symbiosis between living tissues, and hypoxia, infections, inflammation, and mutations all hamper energy flow. “Tissue function eventually becomes strained, biosynthetic pathways falter, ATP synthesis declines and the delicate web of symbiosis between tissues begins to fray,” writes the author. “And so we age.” Central to this “deep chemistry” is the Krebs cycle, a complex series of reactions whereby almost all cells break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins to produce energy, with carbon dioxide and hydrogen as waste products. The process was discovered in the 1930s, and Lane does not conceal his amazement as he recounts the revelation, a generation later, that some primitive cells run the Krebs cycle in reverse, using carbon dioxide and hydrogen to make organic molecules. Furthermore, this reaction only occurs in the absence of oxygen and isn’t discouraged by the heat and toxic chemical conditions present on the young Earth and in deep-ocean hydrothermal vents today. As the mechanism for the primordial metabolism of life, it’s a prime candidate. Lane excels in describing the history of his subject, which includes many obsessive and not always magnanimous geniuses. The cycle itself includes a vast, complicated collection of chemical reactions that scientists are still exploring. “Most of the individual steps I’m going to show here,” writes the author, “are not ‘real,’ as the whole series occurs virtually instantaneously in a sort of soft-shoe shuffle.” A first-rate writer, Lane explains these concepts with a minimum of jargon, but readers unfamiliar with college biology and chemistry will struggle.

An exciting new approach to the science of life, but it’s not for the faint of heart.