Science

The Vital Question

The Vital Question

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  • Create Date：2023-01-13 08:53:25
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Nick Lane
  • ISBN：1781250375
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Summary

To explain the mystery of how life evolved on Earth， Nick Lane explores the deep link between energy and genes。

The Earth teems with life: in its oceans， forests， skies and cities。 Yet there’s a black hole at the heart of biology。 We do not know why complex life is the way it is， or， for that matter， how life first began。 In The Vital Question， award-winning author and biochemist Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history， putting forward a solution to conundrums that have puzzled generations of scientists。

For two and a half billion years， from the very origins of life， single-celled organisms such as bacteria evolved without changing their basic form。 Then， on just one occasion in four billion years， they made the jump to complexity。 All complex life， from mushrooms to man， shares puzzling features， such as sex， which are unknown in bacteria。 How and why did this radical transformation happen？

The answer， Lane argues， lies in energy: all life on Earth lives off a voltage with the strength of a lightning bolt。 Building on the pillars of evolutionary theory， Lane’s hypothesis draws on cutting-edge research into the link between energy and cell biology， in order to deliver a compelling account of evolution from the very origins of life to the emergence of multicellular organisms， while offering deep insights into our own lives and deaths。

Both rigorous and enchanting， The Vital Question provides a solution to life’s vital question: why are we as we are， and indeed， why are we here at all？

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Reviews

Guido Calderini ，

Although I was not impressed by the way in which it was written at times， the book clearly presents some fascinating possible answers to how the first cells came to be， and why the eukaryote revolution happened the way it did。 Highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in biological explanations to the origins of life。 It also teaches a lot of basic and not-so-basic biochemistry while answering these questions。

Lane ，

I give this two stars as a lay reader that wasn't expecting so technical of a book。 Nick Lane is extremely impressive， and there were a few incredibly interesting points of the book， but I found myself skim reading through much of the detailed biochemistry sections， as it was just too over my head。 The basic premise of how common elements combined with energy sources （alkaline thermal vents） give rise to simple life forms， and how these characteristics are statistically estimated to be present i I give this two stars as a lay reader that wasn't expecting so technical of a book。 Nick Lane is extremely impressive， and there were a few incredibly interesting points of the book， but I found myself skim reading through much of the detailed biochemistry sections， as it was just too over my head。 The basic premise of how common elements combined with energy sources （alkaline thermal vents） give rise to simple life forms， and how these characteristics are statistically estimated to be present in 40 billion other planets， just in the Milky Way， gave me much to ponder。 。。。more

Kevin Marshall ，

So many questions answeredPreserve thru the initial description of 'proton pump' & electron tunneling。 It's foundational & you will be richly rewarded。Go mitochondria！ So many questions answeredPreserve thru the initial description of 'proton pump' & electron tunneling。 It's foundational & you will be richly rewarded。Go mitochondria！ 。。。more

Sanford Chee ，

Recommended by Friedberghttps://podcasts。apple。com/sg/podcast。。。 Recommended by Friedberghttps://podcasts。apple。com/sg/podcast。。。 。。。more

Luke ，

Recommended by https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=HE5CT。。。 Recommended by https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=HE5CT。。。 。。。more

Liam ，

I really liked #lexfriedmanbased #hubermanlab #billgates please read🥺😮 my mind: 👑

Adam Amster ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I was not able to follow 99% of this book。 I think basic concepts which maybe the author assumes one would remember from high school biology/chemistry （I did not） were not explained at all， making the more difficult concepts impossible to understand。 I referred back to the glossary often but that did not help。 I basically understood the summaries that were sometimes given but could not appreciate them。 I went into this book knowing slightly more than I did after “reading” it。 “Reading” is in quo I was not able to follow 99% of this book。 I think basic concepts which maybe the author assumes one would remember from high school biology/chemistry （I did not） were not explained at all， making the more difficult concepts impossible to understand。 I referred back to the glossary often but that did not help。 I basically understood the summaries that were sometimes given but could not appreciate them。 I went into this book knowing slightly more than I did after “reading” it。 “Reading” is in quotation marks because I didn’t actually understand what I was reading。 I’m still not sure what the “vital question” is。Summary:The green rock called olivine in the deep ocean reacts with the ocean water， and these are called the alkaline vents。 The author makes the claim that this is the only place life could have started on earth because the usual black smoker vents are too hot and don’t last that long。 Tide， etc was not discussed。 Author makes the claim that 4 billion years ago the ocean was such that the ph when mixed with the ph of the alkaline vents could produce cells （don’t know what this means）。 Something about the cell containing as much energy as a bolt of lightning。 Around this point the author talked a lot about something called a proton gradient。 These dumb cells separated into 2 groups bacteria and archaea and didn’t change for 2 billion years。 Then a bacteria got the bright idea to go into an archea。 I thought it was into a bacteria after reading 100 pages about this but the author clarified that no it a as an archea。 This is called endosymbiosis。 This created eukaryotes which created monkeys。 。。。more

Anatoly IVANOV 。com ，

A review of Nick Lane’s “The Vital Question” is easy to write: just re-arrange a dozen of his own passages。 The book itself， though， is not easy to read。Unless… you understand at least the main principles of physics， chemistry and Latin。However interesting the author’s main thesis — “I will lay out a hypothesis that connects energy and evolution” — it won’t resonate with those of us who’ve slept through the high school hard science classes， or have erased thermodynamics， electromagnetism and val A review of Nick Lane’s “The Vital Question” is easy to write: just re-arrange a dozen of his own passages。 The book itself， though， is not easy to read。Unless… you understand at least the main principles of physics， chemistry and Latin。However interesting the author’s main thesis — “I will lay out a hypothesis that connects energy and evolution” — it won’t resonate with those of us who’ve slept through the high school hard science classes， or have erased thermodynamics， electromagnetism and valence from their memory after graduation， the seemingly useless prerequisites for adulthood。The author promises to describe his point “in enough detail that I can be proved wrong， while writing as accessibly and as excitingly as I can。 I’ve tried to avoid unnecessary jargon， and have included occasional reminders of the meaning of terms; but beyond that I hope you will gain familiarity with recurring terms。 With the occasional double check， I hope this book will be wholly accessible to anyone who is interested。”And therein lies the problem。 A few pages later， the jovial language of grandeur and metaphor shifts to “isotopic fractionation reported in the graphite inclusions” and hops to the discussion of “prions — perfectly normal proteins that spontaneously refold into semicrystalline structures that act as a template for more refolded prions， where the overall entropy barely changes。”If you can follow the meaning of the above — hey， congrats， you’ve kept your knowledge sharp and up-to-date。 Read on。“To an absurd first approximation （putting aside the requirement for relatively small amounts of nitrogen， phosphorus， and other elements）， a ‘formula’ for life is CH₂O。 Given the starting point of carbon dioxide， then life must involve the transfer of electrons and protons from something like hydrogen （H₂） on to CO₂。 It doesn’t matter in principle where those electrons come from – they could be snatched from water （H₂O） or hydrogen sulphide （H₂S） or even ferrous iron （Fe₂+）。 The point is they are transferred on to CO₂， and all such transfers are redox chemistry。 ‘Partially reduced’， incidentally， means that CO₂ is not reduced completely to methane （CH₄）。Redox reactions involve the transfer of electrons from a donor （H₂ in this case） to an acceptor （CO₂）。 The willingness of a molecule to transfer its electrons is connoted in the term ‘reduction potential’。 The convention is not helpful， but is easy enough to understand。 If a molecule ‘wants’ to be rid of its electrons， it is assigned a negative value; the more that it wants to be rid of its electrons， the more negative is the reduction potential。 Conversely， if an atom or molecule craves electrons and will pick them up from almost anywhere， it is assigned a positive value。 Oxygen ‘wants’ to grab electrons （oxidizing whatever it takes them from）， giving it a very positive reduction potential。 All these terms are in fact relative to the so-called standard hydrogen electrode。 The point is that a molecule with a negative reduction potential will tend to get rid of its electrons， passing them on to any molecule with a more positive reduction potential， but not the other way around。At neutral pH （7。0）， the reduction potential of H₂ is technically -414 mV。 If H₂ gives up its two electrons， that leaves behind two protons， 2H+。 The reduction potential for hydrogen reflects this dynamic balance – the tendency of H₂ to lose its electrons， becoming H+， and the tendency of 2H+ to pick up electrons to form H₂。 If CO₂ were to pick up those electrons， it would become formate。 But formate has a reduction potential of -430 mV。 That means it will tend to pass electrons on to H+ to form CO₂ and H₂。 Formaldehyde is even worse。 Its reduction potential is about -580 mV。 It is extremely reluctant to hang on to its electrons， and will easily pass them on to protons to form H₂。 Thus， when considering pH 7， Wächtershäuser is correct: there is no way that H₂ can reduce CO₂。 But of course some bacteria and archaea live from exactly this reaction， so it must be possible。 We’ll look into the details of how they do that in the next chapter， as they are more relevant to the next stage of our story。 For now， all we need to know is that bacteria growing from H₂ and CO₂ can only grow when powered by a proton gradient across a membrane。The reduction potential of H₂ is lower in alkaline conditions: it desperately ‘wants’ to be rid of its electrons， so the left-over H+ can pair up with the OH- in the alkaline fluids to form water， oh so stable。 At pH 10， the reduction potential of H₂ is -584 mV: strongly reducing。 Conversely， at pH 6， the reduction potential for formate is -370m V， and for formaldehyde it is -520m v。 In other words， given this difference in pH， it is quite easy for H₂ to reduce CO₂ to make formaldehyde。 The only question is: how are electrons physically transferred from H₂ to CO₂？ The answer is in the structure。 FeS minerals in the thin inorganic dividing walls of microporous vents conduct electrons。 They don’t do it nearly as well as a copper wire， but they do it， nonetheless。 And so in theory， the physical structure of alkaline vents should drive the reduction of CO₂ by H₂， to form organics。 Fantastic！”Indeed。 If you understand what you’ve just read。 Because you can then grasp the book’s main idea。“All living cells power themselves through the flow of protons （positively charged hydrogen atoms）， in what amounts to a kind of electricity – proticity – with protons in place of electrons。 The energy we gain from burning food in respiration is used to pump protons across a membrane， forming a reservoir on one side of the membrane。 The flow of protons back from this reservoir can be used to power work in the same way as a turbine in a hydroelectric dam。The use of proton gradients is universal across life on earth – proton power is as much an integral part of all life as the universal genetic code。”Is it cool？ Oh yeah， if that’s your kind of cool。 I do like to nerd out about proticity gradients and nanomechanics on my daily 10 K run。And it is here that I’d include the author’s words of introduction:“I hope to persuade you that energy is central to evolution， that we can only understand the properties of life if we bring energy into the equation。 I want to show you that this relationship between energy and life goes right back to the beginning – that the fundamental properties of life necessarily emerged from the disequilibrium of a restless planet。 I want to show you that the origin of life was driven by energy flux， that proton gradients were central to the emergence of cells， and that their use constrained the structure of both bacteria and archaea。 I want to demonstrate that these constraints dominated the later evolution of cells， keeping the bacteria and archaea forever simple in morphology， despite their biochemical virtuosity。 I want to prove that a rare event， an endosymbiosis in which one bacterium got inside an archaeon， broke those constraints， enabling the evolution of vastly more complex cells。 I want to show you that this was not easy – that the intimate relationship between cells living one inside another explains why morphologically complex organisms only arose once。 I hope to do more， to persuade you that this intimate relationship actually predicts some of the properties of complex cells。 These traits include the nucleus， sex， two sexes， and even the distinction between the immortal germline and the mortal body – the origins of a finite lifespan and genetically predetermined death。 Finally， I want to convince you that thinking in these energetic terms allows us to predict aspects of our own biology， notably a deep evolutionary trade-off between fertility and fitness in youth， on the one hand， and ageing and disease on the other。”Unfortunately， unless you happen to work in biochemistry， physics or mathematics， you’d have to take it all at face value。 Really now， Nick， how can we “prove you wrong”？ Grab our trusty transmission electron microscope sitting next to our desks？ Run a couple of tests on our home DNA sequencer？ Bang out some Julia code？One issue I could sensibly argue about with the author is when he writes: “I’d like to think that these insights might help us to improve our own health， or at least to understand it better。”Nah。 Sorry。 The knowledge gap is just too wide for most of us even to comprehend this book， let alone interpret its statements into concrete， life-altering behavior。The author does hint at — albeit very， very lightly… and using ATP mechanics — aerobic endurance sports contributing to increased life span。 But do you need a book about bioenergetics to understand that running and cycling are good for your health？Good book， wrong audience。 Grand vision， highly speculative。 。。。more

Sandeep Reddy ，

Easily the most difficult of books I’ve recently read。 The best part about the book is how Nick lane manages to make this a popular science book while delving quite deep into the science of how life must have originated on earth and how much of this is necessary by physics of life has to originate elsewhere。 Thought horizon expanding book。

Empty ，

Sorry Nick。 Interesting topics， knowledgeable author。。。but way too technical to enjoy。

Amy Mossoff ，

Warning: this book is not for the casual layman。 I didn't understand all of it， not having what I think was the necessary background knowledge。 Still， I give it four stars because it is just packed with well-written， interesting hypotheses。 Warning: this book is not for the casual layman。 I didn't understand all of it， not having what I think was the necessary background knowledge。 Still， I give it four stars because it is just packed with well-written， interesting hypotheses。 。。。more

Hari ，

One of the best books I have read this year。 Nick Lane is an amazing scientific writer。 I continue to read all of his books and most of them are extremely good。

Kristofer Carlson ，

This is a fascinating book that illumines some of the hard questions regarding the development of life。 For the most part， the author explains how certain things work within cells， then describes potential ways that could have developed using natural processes。 I am not a scientist， and this book provides enough detail to keep me interested without overwhelming me。

Rex Wu ，

6 stars if I could。 This book totally opens my eyes on how life emerges on earth （or anywhere else in the universe）， and how complex eukaryotic life form is the way it is， and shares the most many foundational traits: nucleus， sex， and general cell morphology。 Nick Lane did a fantastic job explain the process in first principle reasoning。 Not only did I learn what makes sense that life on earth evolves this way， I also learn how it couldn’t be any other way。- why the energy in all life forms is 6 stars if I could。 This book totally opens my eyes on how life emerges on earth （or anywhere else in the universe）， and how complex eukaryotic life form is the way it is， and shares the most many foundational traits: nucleus， sex， and general cell morphology。 Nick Lane did a fantastic job explain the process in first principle reasoning。 Not only did I learn what makes sense that life on earth evolves this way， I also learn how it couldn’t be any other way。- why the energy in all life forms is based on redox reaction？- where is the most likely place life originated？- why it is very likely all life is carbon-based？- why there is no complex bacteria？- how does mitochondria intron invasion give rise to nucleus， and sex？And so much more。 I think I will be reading all Nick Lane’s book 。。。more

Flaviu ，

Nick tackles the questions at the very core of life itself。 Not light reading， but for those that wish to put in the focus and patience it's a journey well worth taking。 Nick tackles the questions at the very core of life itself。 Not light reading， but for those that wish to put in the focus and patience it's a journey well worth taking。 。。。more

Slawi Dimitrov ，

Good book， there have been a lot of developments in biology and the origin of life that I was not aware of， and they are all in this book。 According to this book the traits all complex life on earth shares （a nucleus， sex， ageing， death） are predictable consequences of the evolution of how we use energy in our mitochondria， and I find that very interesting。

Anibal Diaz ，

Wake up reader。 This book makes Darwin be a school kid with the roots of evolution， put energy as the cornerstone of the life complexity on the earth， and perhaps elsewhere in the universe。

Melissa Tan ，

reminds me of the awe i felt when i first read Sapiens， but perhaps this is even more fascinating as the explanations， facts or arguments are at a much more abstract level and is completely unimaginable for the uninitated ， i。e me。 Does it get alittle technical？ for the average person （again， me）， yes。 But better for it to be a stretch than to be too dumbed down that you lose colour on how complex it actually is。 if its too technical， and some parts it really is， it is worth to reverse a chapter reminds me of the awe i felt when i first read Sapiens， but perhaps this is even more fascinating as the explanations， facts or arguments are at a much more abstract level and is completely unimaginable for the uninitated ， i。e me。 Does it get alittle technical？ for the average person （again， me）， yes。 But better for it to be a stretch than to be too dumbed down that you lose colour on how complex it actually is。 if its too technical， and some parts it really is， it is worth to reverse a chapter and reread。 and some other times， to just move on。 Either way， i love his writing which remains humorous and personal without trying to fit too much of authors personal anecdotes or academic experience in。 The bottom line for anyone thinking about whether to get this is， yes。 Its talks about what living is， in its exact mechanism and why it is and has to be so。 Understanding this basis is highly illuminating to help you think about death， sex， longevity/ageing in a way that you have never thought of （or imagined）。 if you are like me， looking to understand this strange universe and world that we live in， this is foundational book you need to read to help take you a step further， to gain a richer understanding of the world and yourself！！！ 。。。more

Joshua Hedlund ，

Pretty interesting book， although I couldn't follow all of it， and I probably would have followed even less if I hadn't recently taken half an online course of an intro to molecular biology and learned at least something about the wonders of ATP; it gets pretty deep into chemistry and I'm still not sure I totally understand the concepts of proton gradients and borrowed electrons （I'm not used to hearing cellular activities described in that way）。 Lane speculates on the two big scientific questio Pretty interesting book， although I couldn't follow all of it， and I probably would have followed even less if I hadn't recently taken half an online course of an intro to molecular biology and learned at least something about the wonders of ATP; it gets pretty deep into chemistry and I'm still not sure I totally understand the concepts of proton gradients and borrowed electrons （I'm not used to hearing cellular activities described in that way）。 Lane speculates on the two big scientific questions of the origins of life itself and the origins of eukaryotes （whose cells are far more complex than the prokaryotes）。 He wonderfully describes why it's so hard to come up with plausible natural explanations for these origins， and the shortcomings of many popular hypotheses。 He then offers his own theories based on the oft-neglected but fundamental role of energy。The speculations on the origin of life itself were pretty interesting。 Lane points out the massive failure of stories revolving around chemical reactions in the open ocean， or even in protected warm little ponds - on the input side， there's no concentrated influx of the energy needed to drive reactions; on the output side， there's nothing to drive away by-products and keep whatever manages to form from suffocating in its own waste。 Hydrothermal vents have their own chaotic problems。 But Lane favors their calmer cousin， the alkaline vent， cleverly postulating that the vents could bring the energy and drive away the waste， while the acidity difference between the vents and the ocean， and the porous shape of the structure in between， could create an environment to corral such reactions into the beginnings of life。 Fascinating， intriguing， and clever。 Of course， I'm not qualified enough to evaluate such ideas or identify any major shortcomings。 The flipside of focusing on his area of expertise （energy） is that he handwaves away the equally fundamental difficulties around the origin of RNA and the genetic code。 He also masterfully describes the challenges in explaining the fundamental differences between bacteria and archaea， and his brief suggestion of convergent evolution to explain their striking similarities felt a little far-fetched to me。The speculations on the origin of eukaryotes seemed more problematic。 The concept of one bacteria （or technically， archaea） swallowing another， which became the mitochondria， is always a fascinating one， with fascinating evidence。 Though well-familiar ground if you've read anything else on these topics， Lane brings the neglected role of energy to the discussion （though my lack of knowledge prevented me from fairly evaluating it and left me with more questions）。 But while he does a great job describing the problem of the "black hole" of the vast differences between eukaryotes and prokaryotes， he is less persuasive at answering it， suggesting that somehow a small unstable population managed to survive and stick together long enough somewhere to share all their genes for all their new features and emerge on the other side without any leftover intermediates， even though it's a viable niche， as he repeatedly describes with the evidence of eukaryotes who have lost features and stuck around。 It's all a little too "just so story" for my liking， but his exploration of the downstream consequences for sex and aging and everything else was still interesting。 This was also the first I learned of the tantalizing one-off discovery of the potentially-intermediate "parakaryon，" of which I hope we haven't seen the last。Importantly， even amidst the complexity and confusion， Lane manages to convey the absolute wonder of life。 While careful to explain that he doesn't personally invoke divine intervention， he's almost sympathetic to those that do。 When discussing the famous ATP synthase:It is hard to convey the astonishing complexity of this protein motor。 We still don't know exactly how it works。。。 This is precision nanoengineering of the highest order， a magical device， and the more we learn about it the more marvelous it becomes。 Some see in it proof for the existence of God。 I don't。 I see the wonder of natural selection。 But it is undoubtedly a wondrous machine。 As such， the sprinkling of biblical metaphors and references throughout the text were amusing yet appropriate for such cosmic and fundamental matters。 ATP synthase。。。 cells。。。 life itself - yes - the more we learn about it all， the more marvelous it becomes。 。。。more

Peter Grant ，

This was a truely astonishing book， which， as you read it， gave a credible and comprehensible history for how life started and how that life then took the giant leap from prokaryote to eukaryote。 The author took you through the journey in sometimes meticulous， sometimes bewildering detail and you felt that you were with a guide marvelling at the mechanisms of respiration and DNA and then dropping your jaw at the step change in DNA complexity that came with the eukaryotes。 Quite frankly， as with This was a truely astonishing book， which， as you read it， gave a credible and comprehensible history for how life started and how that life then took the giant leap from prokaryote to eukaryote。 The author took you through the journey in sometimes meticulous， sometimes bewildering detail and you felt that you were with a guide marvelling at the mechanisms of respiration and DNA and then dropping your jaw at the step change in DNA complexity that came with the eukaryotes。 Quite frankly， as with some other titles by the same author， I was blown away。 It did appear the he mad made an attempt to lighten his writing with some occasionally whacky little phrases but none of this could mask the rigour， the detail and his ability to put across sometimes phenomenally complex ideas。 A rare five stars from me but fully deserved。 。。。more

Braeden ，

Bit tough to get through， could be more concise and a bit less heavy on jargon but overall conveys some important messages and subverts typical， especially outsider， thinking on biology。

Pamela Ornelas ，

Incredible book about the origin of cellular life。 Not your everyday scicom book and can get a little heavy with the details， but an absolute must read。

Re’s Book Journal ，

This book fascinates me with the wonderful unexplained void between the morphological simplicity of bacteria and the complexity of everything else。

dbszane ，

The best popular science book I ever read - until I started "Transformer" by the same author， the latter might take the first place medal。。。。。。 The best popular science book I ever read - until I started "Transformer" by the same author， the latter might take the first place medal。。。。。。 。。。more

Elijah Lais ，

Not at all my style of book--I read it cause it's my best buddy's favorite--but I found myself weirdly getting into his introductions and conclusions。 As someone who isn't particularly adept with science/biology/chemistry， it was dense， but not inaccessible。 Lane surprised me with some of his prose and insights， as well。 So overall， I've gotta say I was a fan， even if I feel like I don't have a firm grasp of all the concepts covered。 Not at all my style of book--I read it cause it's my best buddy's favorite--but I found myself weirdly getting into his introductions and conclusions。 As someone who isn't particularly adept with science/biology/chemistry， it was dense， but not inaccessible。 Lane surprised me with some of his prose and insights， as well。 So overall， I've gotta say I was a fan， even if I feel like I don't have a firm grasp of all the concepts covered。 。。。more

Leftjab ，

This is one of the most difficult NF books I’ve read。 I think The Elegant Universe was similar in that I was having real trouble keeping up with what the writer was saying。 So the lower score is a classic case of “it’s not you， it’s me” – I feel if I had a bit more background （or another college course or two） in microbial biology or even organic chemistry would have helped。But what I did glean was pretty illuminating – I’m also sensing that what Lane was exploring is still a bit of an unknown i This is one of the most difficult NF books I’ve read。 I think The Elegant Universe was similar in that I was having real trouble keeping up with what the writer was saying。 So the lower score is a classic case of “it’s not you， it’s me” – I feel if I had a bit more background （or another college course or two） in microbial biology or even organic chemistry would have helped。But what I did glean was pretty illuminating – I’m also sensing that what Lane was exploring is still a bit of an unknown in that we don’t exactly know how organic complex life came to be。 Lane seemed to think that it was within prokaryotic cells – and how they convert energy in order to use it。 I still feel we’ve all essentially evolved from shower mold but that’s just me。 Was interesting to read Land dismissing panspermia in barely a paragraph – maybe just a sentence。 I hadn’t ever really thought about panspermia beyond science fiction and Lane seems to say “yeah， accent on the fiction。” （Though I thought the Hadean era was largely volcanic and in this Land was saying it was aquatic？ See， these are the types of things where books like this and The Elegant Universe would serve me personally better if they were a college course – I need some hand holding to keep up with the writer。 And Lane does provide a lot of illustrations but even those were over my head。 Maybe I need cartoons or something？ Which makes me feel really silly。）The two biggest things I gleaned were that Land is convinced the extreme environment of hydrothermal vents and the unique chemistry/temperatures/energy transference that occur in those at the bottom of the ocean are the key to the emergence of organic life – which also makes sense to me。 （And to get science fiction on you that environment seems like it is an alien planet！） The second was that – and I think I got this – the missing link between prokaryotes （bacteria & archaea） and eukaryotes （building blocks of plants， fungi， animals） is what seems to be a eukaryotic cell within a prokaryotic cell – something that doesn’t really seem to exist very often but which Lane feels points to the possibility of that step towards what we are。Either way， even though this was some serious work for me to get through， I totally appreciate what Lane was writing about and it might be something I turn back to in the future， after I’ve bucked up on some of the fundamentals。 。。。more

Rulla Alani ，

Fascinating read！ I highly recommend this for science lovers！

SeaShore ，

While awaiting， his latest book， I read this and recalled reading a review of Power， Sex， Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life describing mitochondria。In the Vital Question， he again talks about Eukaryotes and ATP， asking the question:--"So， how did eukaryotes break out of the size loop， and evolve complex transport systems？ What is so different about a large cell with multiple mitochondria， each one of which has its own plasmid-sized genome， and a giant bacterium with multiple plasmids While awaiting， his latest book， I read this and recalled reading a review of Power， Sex， Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life describing mitochondria。In the Vital Question， he again talks about Eukaryotes and ATP， asking the question:--"So， how did eukaryotes break out of the size loop， and evolve complex transport systems？ What is so different about a large cell with multiple mitochondria， each one of which has its own plasmid-sized genome， and a giant bacterium with multiple plasmids， dispersed to control respiration？"And he answers:---" The answer is that the deal at the origin of eukaryotes had nothing to do with ATP， as as pointed out by Bill Martin and Miklos Müller" Muller wrote， in particular， The Deep History of eukaryotic Metabolism Miklos Muller says his mentor was De Duve， who wanted to reconstruct the ancestral peroxisome。 His idea at that time was that there could be eukaryotic organisms that do not contain mitochondria but have only peroxisomes as an oxidative organelle。 This was really what pushed me to start working on anaerobic protists。 Muller started working on trichomonad flagellates， which do not use the Krebs cycle or the electron transport chain for ATP synthesis。--In this book， Nick Lane says "The origin of the eukaryotic cell was a singular event。 Here on earth it happened just once in 4 billion years of evolution。 。。"---"The selective landscape was transformed by a singular endosymbiosis between prokaryotes。Then in the Epilogue， he mentions the Underwater volcano found in the Pacific Ocean。 What interested the Japanese biologists found microbes living with polychaete worms --a prokaryote that acquired bacterial endosymbionts。My conclusion:In this age of rapid advancements in technology yet we cannot deal with invasion of so many diseases and， if humans are on an ongoing quest for finding life on other planets and/or making it possible to live on other planets， lab work has intensified and multiplied。 Books are piling out as fast as the thoughts and hypotheses come to mind。 His Glossary of terms is complete and useful so that all readers can understand the flow of thought。 。。。more

Paul Cohen ，

A cracking book on the core processes of life and on the central importance of energy and biochemistry。 It was engaging and well-written but I needed to keep some notes on concepts and terms while reading this book in order to follow along。 However that effort was well worth the read。

KATHLEEN CALDER ，

Excellent。 Endosymbiosis only happened once！！！

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Vital Question

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Vital Question&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Vital Question&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0