HITS Faculty Public Lecture - Prof Nick Lane - Why is life the way it is?

Abstract

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.

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 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 and drawing on his own research into the link between energy and cell biology, Lane will show how life might have emerged on Earth, the constraints on complexity anywhere in the universe, and even the first hints of consciousness in cells.

Agenda

• 16.45: Tea and coffee on arrival
• 17.00: Talk by Professor Nick Lane
• 17.45: Q & A session
• 18.00: Drinks reception

About Professor Nick Lane

Nick Lane is Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry and Director of the Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution (CLOE) at University College London. His research is on how energy flow has shaped evolution from the origin of life to the evolution of eukaryotic cells with downright quirky traits such as sex. Nick has published more than 130 papers in leading journals including Nature, Cell and Science, and written five celebrated books which have been recognized by the Royal Society Science Book Prize (2010) and the Faraday Prize (2016).