Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life 2nd Edition Nick Lane

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life – Ebook Instant Download/Delivery ISBN(s): 9780198831907,0198831900,9780192567857, 0192567853

Product details:

• ISBN 10:0192567853
• ISBN 13: 9780192567857
• Author: Nick Lane

Mitochondria are tiny structures located inside our cells that carry out the essential task of producing energy for the cell. They are found in all complex living things, and in that sense, they are fundamental for driving complex life on the planet. But there is much more to them than that. Mitochondria have their own DNA, with their own small collection of genes, separate from those in the cell nucleus. It is thought that they were once bacteria living independent lives. Their enslavement within the larger cell was a turning point in the evolution of life, enabling the development of complex organisms and, closely related, the origin of two sexes. Unlike the DNA in the nucleus, mitochondrial DNA is passed down exclusively (or almost exclusively) via the female line. That’s why it has been used by some researchers to trace human ancestry daughter-to-mother, to ‘Mitochondrial Eve’. Mitochondria give us important information about our evolutionary history. And that’s not all. Mitochondrial genes mutate much faster than those in the nucleus because of the free radicals produced in their energy-generating role. This high mutation rate lies behind our ageing and certain congenital diseases. The latest research suggests that mitochondria play a key role in degenerative diseases such as cancer, through their involvement in precipitating cell suicide. Mitochondria, then, are pivotal in power, sex, and suicide. In this fascinating and thought-provoking book, Nick Lane brings together the latest research findings in this exciting field to show how our growing understanding of mitochondria is shedding light on how complex life evolved, why sex arose (why don’t we just bud?), and why we age and die. This understanding is of fundamental importance, both in understanding how we and all other complex life came to be, but also in order to be able to control our own illnesses, and delay our degeneration and death. Oxford Landmark Science books are ‘must-read’ classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.

Table contents:

1. The Deepest Evolutionary Chasm

2. Quest for a Progenitor

3. The Hydrogen Hypothesis

4. The Meaning of Respiration

5. Proton Power

6. The Origin of Life

7. Why Bacteria are Simple

8. Why Mitochondria Make Complexity Possible

9. The Power Laws of Biology

10. The Warm-Blooded Revolution

11. Conflict in the Body

12. Foundations of the Individual

13. The Asymmetry of Sex

14. What Human Pre History Says About the Sexes

15. Why There Are Two Sexes

16. The Mitochondrial Theory of Ageing

17. Demise of the Self-Correcting Machine

18. A Cure for Old Age?

People also search:

power sex suicide review

power sex suicide book pdf

sex power and suicide po polsku

power sex suicide deutsch

sex power suicide