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

The Royal Institution

1.8M subscribers • 4 videos on Rounds

YouTube
  • Recommended by 2 people, in Hacker News, across 2 different months.
  • Presented by Nick Lane, as the video describes them

Assumes interest and some biology. Education, not medical advice.

389K views4 years ago2 recommendations

How the body worksAging and longevityCells and moleculesMetabolism and energyBiology of aging

Nick Lane explains the central role of the Krebs cycle in cellular metabolism, the origin of life, and its implications for aging and disease.

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: youtu.be/UqsqJM8g604 Nick's book 'Transformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death' is out now: geni.us/X1cOOL8 Subscribe for regular science videos: 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. Metabolic pathways of life The Krebs cycle - simplified How cells respire What cancer taught us about the Krebs cycle How is the Krebs cycle efficient? The reverse Krebs cycle Margaret Dayhoff - the founder of bioinformatics Discovering alkaline hydrothermal vents The need for genes Supercharging the earth's battery through photosynthesis Rise of the predators 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: patreon.com/TheRoyalInstitution and Twitter: twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: facebook.com/royalinstitution and TikTok: tiktok.com/@ri_science Listen to the Ri podcast: anchor.fm/ri-science-podcast Our editorial policy: rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won

Why it's here

2 people recommend this

What people say. Recommended as an excellent and deep lecture on mitochondria, cellular respiration, and the fundamental chemistry of life.

AareyBabain Hacker News • Recommends

On “A biochemist’s view of life’s origin reframes cancer and aging”

You can watch his presentations at the Royal Institute. How the Krebs cycle powers life and death - link to this video Why is Life the Way it Is? link

wfnin Hacker News • Recommends

On “Transformer: The Deep Chemistry of Life and Death”

I've read part of Nick Lane's other book, The Vital Question , cannot comment on this new one; TL;DR competent biochemist (from complete amateur standpoint at any rate), excellent science communicator; you can watch some of his talks online. e.g. the one linked on this new book's page is good: link to this video He's really fascinated by the overall transformation process of inorganic matter -> organic matter, a sort of scientific fixation - which is always enjoyable when it's done by a competent scientist - and it's really captivating stuff. (The fact I haven't finished his previous book has nothing to do with the book material itself, if anything it really captivated me; it's just my not-amazing new…

zoogenyin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Intelligence Beyond the Brain [video]”

Nick Lane is another interesting person who is exploring alternative ideas related to cells. Although their work is not exactly the same, I find it interesting to ponder these ideas together. Some videos: 1. Krebs cycle and Transformers at Royal Institute: link to this video 2. A wide-ranging discussion on Lex Friedman podcast: link

dirousselin Hacker News • Mentions

On “Can ketones enhance cognitive function and protect brain networks?”

Interestingly I was just watching talk from Nick Lane, presented at the Royal Institution about mitochondria and respiration. What is amazing to me is that respiration isn’t just burning glucose to make ATP, it also makes many other essential building blocks needed for health cells. link to this video

morphlein Hacker News • Mentions

On “Biology is a Burrito: A text- and visual-based journey through a living cell”

The research into the origen of life looks at bottom up fundamentals (how they work) of all cells since the solar system was formed. You could start with the slides in this lecture and read the underlying papers and all the references in all those papers. You probably can find these references also in all the books he wrote. link to this video Maybe an educational text for the laymen has summarised this recently but I'm not aware of one. Most Biology from your school days have been rewritten.