Ageing itself raises our risk, by switching metabolism towards aerobic glycolysis, promoting cellular growth. The combination of a cancer spawning event "set in a permissive metabolic context" allows proliferation and active cancer. To grasp the Krebs cycle is to fathom the deep coherence of biology. It connects the first photosynthetic bacteria with our peculiar cells. It links the emergence of consciousness with the inevitability of death. And it puts the subtle differences between individuals in the same grand story as the rise of the living world itself.

The reverse Krebs cycle requires an input of energy (ATP) to work, which in modern bacteria is normally obtained from photosynthesis. H2 will react with CO2, using iron–sulfide catalysts, but works best at pressures of around 100 bar, equivalent to an ocean depth of about 1 kilometre. Although I love this book, it does inevitably suffer part way through from the problems of a biology book being read by non-biologists. To start with I was carried along with enthusiasm engendered by those stories and Lane's novel presentation, but there are a couple of chapters midway through where the sheer volume of molecules named becomes somewhat overwhelming and I had to fight myself not to skip to a more interesting bit. It's hard to see how this could be avoided - but it does remain an issue.

Chapter extracts

Another impressive aspect of this book is the way it brings the real scientific method into the spotlight. This is something that science writing tend to over-simplify and treat with almost religious awe. Yet it is undertaken by flawed human beings. In showing how explanations of the Krebs cycle, the workings of mitochondria and more were gradually developed, Lane gives us plenty of stories of human endeavour and how the development of good science is not a straight line to success, but involves detours, misunderstandings and, yes, sometimes human pettiness.

Here’s my analogy. You discover oil and design a crude diesel engine. Then you use that engine to help you mine more minerals and oil to make more diesel engines. Then you use those engines to makes things that growth your wealth. Then you use that growth to enable abundant credit. Then you use that credit to invest in complex factories to make computer chips. Then you use those computer chips to make your diesel engine more fuel efficient with less emissions. The greatest risk factor for cancer is older age: cancer incidence increases exponentially with age. One might think this is explained by the steady accumulation of mutations with age. But the buildup of mutations with age seems to be too slow to explain either cancer or ageing as a process. Nor can it explain why humans do not have a higher cancer rate than, mice, despite having ten times as many rounds of DNA copying to make an individual.Life started out using the Krebs cycle to convert gases into living cells—the engine of biosynthesis. But modern animals use it for biosynthesis and to generate energy. They can’t spin the cycle in both directions at the same time, so how did they manage? Hugely ambitious and tremendously exciting ... Transformer shows how a molecular dance from the dawn of time still sculpts our lives today. I read with rapt attention’ What does Lane say is the best thing we can do to have long healthy lives? You’d never guess. Eat a modest quantity of healthy food and stay active. 🙂 But be aware, there’s a large element of chance in health. Every life sciences major remembers learning about the Krebs cycle in college; if your undergraduate experience was anything like mine, then you also remember forgetting it immediately. When we learn about this cycle at the heart of metabolism, it’s presented almost exclusively in the context of energy production. Producing ATP is important, but so is generating the macromolecules that come to constitute tissues and organs. Metabolism does both, utilizing the Krebs cycle as a sort of roundabout to accomplish the needs of the cell.

Transformer is a monstrous tome. And it's even more of a chimera in audiobook form. Having read the author's previous book, The Vital Question, I knew a bit of what to expect, a high-level explanation of an important biochemical process, with all the history, false starts, important scientists and, most crucially, the chemistry behind it. A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting. One of the most creative of today's biologists ... this is a book filled with big ideas, many of which are bold instances of lateral thinking. This is probably the best book on biology (and more specifically biochemistry) that I've ever read. Although I love this book, it does inevitably suffer part way through from the problems of a biology book being read by non-biologThe chances of life starting on an oxygenated planet are arguably close to zero: hydrogen must react with CO2 to form organic molecules, but does so very reluctantly if at all in the presence of oxygen From the renowned biochemist and author of The Vital Question , an illuminating inquiry into the Krebs cycle and the origins of life. Thrilling and highly persuasive … This hugely important book is set to become a landmark, transforming our understanding of how life works’