Overview

Oxygen takes the reader on an enthralling journey, as gripping as a thriller, as it unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. The book explains far more than the size of ancient insects: it shows how oxygen underpins the origin of biological complexity, the birth of photosynthesis, the sudden evolution of animals, the need for two sexes, the accelerated ageing of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long lives of bats and birds. Drawing on this grand evolutionary canvas, Oxygen offers fresh perspectives on our own lives and deaths, explaining modern killer diseases, why we age, and what we can do about it.

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9780198607830

Table of Contents

Reviews

A thought-provoking popularization of evolution and oxygen biochemistry. --New England Journal of Medicine<br> Nothing less than a total rethink of how life evolved between about 3.5 billion and 543 million years ago, and how that relates to the diseases we suffer from today.... This is scientific writing at its best. --Financial Times<br> A worthy effort with a clearly argued message, full of informative and entertaining details. --American Scientist<br> Provocative and complexly argued. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)<br> One of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read. --John Emsley<br>

Oxygen is one of the most abundant of the elements found on Earth, both as a gas comprising one fifth of the atmosphere and in its most ubiquitous compound, water. In both these states it is vital to most life, but paradoxically in its pure gaseous form oxygen is toxic, and where present in the body as free-radicals (a reactive form of oxygen produced continuously at low levels by respiration) it is deleterious to health. How did such a potentially dangerous element become so bound up with life on Earth? And how does life cope with its toxicity? In this excellent book Nick Lane outlines the first appearance of oxygen and its subsequent fluctuations by examining the record left in prehistoric rocks. He postulates a peak in the atmosphere of 35% in the Carboniferous period and explains how oxygen was the cornerstone of the evolutionary explosion in the Precambrian era. He also reviews the theory that oxygen is implicated in ageing, and argues the case for a new viewpoint: that ageing is not a function of time but a function of oxidative stress, which tends to rise over time. Professor Lane presents his evidence and theories with commendable clarity. The science he draws on, while demanding concentration, should be accessible to anyone with a basic scientific knowledge, and he links oxygen to other fascinating subjects - the discovery of radium by Marie Curie, the impressively un-killable bacterium Dienococcus radiodurans (one of the most radiation-resistant organisms on Earth), and the longevity of birds and bats, to name but a few. A scholarly and readable introduction to an important topic. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Nick Lane studied biochemistry at Imperial College, University of London. His doctoral research, at the Royal Free Hospital, was on oxygen free-radicals and metabolic function in organ transplants. Dr Lane is Honorary Reader at University College London and strategic director at Adelphi Medi Cine, a medical multimedia company based in London, where he is responsible for developing interactive approaches to medical education. Articles by Nick Lane have been published in numerous international journals, including Scientific American, The Lancet and the British Medical Journal. He lives in London.

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