What process animates cells and gives life to lifeless matter? What brings our own lives to an end? The Krebs cycle is the answer - and it could turn our picture of life on Earth upside down. Watch the Q&A here:    • Q&A: How the Krebs cycle powers life ...  

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For decades, biology has been dominated by information – the power of genes. Yet there is no difference in the information content between a living cell and one that died a moment ago.

Nick Lane takes us on a journey which turns the standard view upside down, capturing an extraordinary scientific renaissance that is hiding in plain sight.

At its core is an amazing cycle of reactions that uses energy to transform inorganic molecules into the building blocks of life – and the reverse.

To understand this cycle is to fathom the deep coherence of the living world. It connects the origin of life with the devastation of cancer, the first photosynthetic bacteria with our own mitochondria, sulfurous sludges with the emergence of consciousness, and the trivial differences between ourselves with the large-scale history of our planet.

This talk was recorded at the Royal Institution on 20 May 2022.

0:25 Metabolic pathways of life
5:48 The Krebs cycle - simplified
9:37 How cells respire
14:29 What cancer taught us about the Krebs cycle
17:11 How is the Krebs cycle efficient?
19:41 The reverse Krebs cycle
22:42 Margaret Dayhoff - the founder of bioinformatics
26:31 Discovering alkaline hydrothermal vents
32:38 The need for genes
36:10 Supercharging the earth's battery through photosynthesis
41:03 Rise of the predators
45:32 The Krebs cycle in disease

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