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SUMMARY:Energy and Matter at the Origin of Life - Dr Nick Lane
DTSTART:20160127T210000Z
DTEND:20160127T220000Z
UID:TALK63747@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jamie Fox
DESCRIPTION:There is a paradox at the base of life. Membrane bioenergetics
  – the use of ion gradients across membranes to drive carbon and energy 
 metabolism – are universal\, but membranes are not. Radical differences 
 between bacteria and archaea in membrane chemistry and active ion pumping 
 suggest that LUCA\, the last universal common ancestor of all life\, may h
 ave used natural proton gradients in alkaline hydrothermal vents to drive 
 growth. Dr Nick Lane will outline a possible scenario for the origin of li
 fe in this environment\, and present some experimental results which sugge
 st that proton gradients across inorganic barriers could have driven the t
 ransition from geochemistry to biochemistry.\n\nDr. Nick Lane is the Reade
 r in Evolutionary Biochemistry in the Department of Genetics\, Evolution a
 nd Environment at UCL. He was the winner of the 2015 Biochemical Society A
 ward\, and author of the popular science books "Power\, Sex\, Suicide: Mit
 ochondria and the Meaning of Life"\, "Oxygen: The molecule that made the w
 orld" and "Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution"\, which 
 won the 2010 Royal Society Prize for Science Books.
LOCATION:Queen's Building Lecture Theatre\, Emmanuel College
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