How the Krebs cycle powers life and death – with Nick Lane

Video Description

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: https://youtu.be/UqsqJM8g604 Nick's book 'Transformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death' is out now: https://geni.us/X1cOOL8 Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe 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 ---- A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially: Andy Carpenter, William Hudson, Richard Hawkins, Thomas Gønge, Don McLaughlin, Jonathan Sturm, Microslav Jarábek, Michael Rops, Supalak Foong, efkinel lo, Martin Paull, Ben Wynne-Simmons, Ivo Danihelka, Paulina Barren, Kevin Winoto, Jonathan Killin, Taylor Hornby, Rasiel Suarez, Stephan Giersche, William Billy Robillard, Scott Edwardsen, Jeffrey Schweitzer, Frances Dunne, jonas.app, Tim Karr, Adam Leos, Alan Latteri, Matt Townsend, John C. Vesey, Andrew McGhee, Robert Reinecke, Paul Brown, Lasse T Stendan, David Schick, Joe Godenzi, Dave Ostler, Osian Gwyn Williams, David Lindo, Roger Baker, Greg Nagel, Rebecca Pan. --- The Ri is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: https://anchor.fm/ri-science-podcast Our editorial policy: https://www.rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.