Publishers Weekly
06/20/2022
Biochemist Lane (The Vital Question) digs into the “merry-go-round of energy and matter known as the Krebs cycle” in this dense and demanding outing. “For decades, biology has been dominated by information—the power of genes,” Lane writes, and aims to shift the focus instead to energy, which he writes “conjures... genes themselves into existence and still determines their activity, even in our information-soaked lives.” To that end, he devotes chapters to topics related to the process involved in cellular respiration known as the Krebs cycle, discussing how spontaneous chemical reactions in the heat and pressure of undersea vents could have generated the basic building blocks of life in Earth’s early days; how the Krebs cycle is involved in cancer; what the cycle can reveal about ageing; and proposing that energy “has to correspond in some way to the stream of consciousness.” Unfortunately, he assumes readers will come equipped with a background in chemistry, suggesting at one point, for example, that “you can probably see where I’m going with this” before concluding that “when forwards flux through the Krebs cycle is impaired, cancer cells can make citrate by converting a-ketoglutarate into isocitrate, then citrate, through reverse flux.” General readers can give this one a pass. (July)
Science - Joseph Moran
"A thrilling tour of the remarkable stories behind the discoveries of some of life’s key metabolic pathways and mechanisms. [Lane] lays bare the human side of science… The book brings to life the chemistry that brings us to life. "
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Laura Eme and Courtney W. Stairs
"[A] thrilling journey . . . the book is a tour de force."
New Scientist - Michael Marshall
"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. "
Sean Carroll
"In this fascinating book, Nick Lane brings together biology, chemistry, and physics to illuminate the role of energy in bringing matter alive."
John Grunsfeld
"Nick Lane’s marvelously engaging Transformer refocused my astronomer’s gaze on the vital chemistry of life on our own planet."
Brian Clegg
"This is probably the best book on biology (and more specifically biochemistry) that I've ever read."
New Yorker - James Somers
"Bold . . . passionate . . . a dramatically revisionist account [of the] origins of life."
Lee Smolin
"I loved every page of Nick Lane’s new book."
The Atlantic - Hamilton Cain
"[An] indefatigable exploration of the genesis of biology . . . [Lane] beautifully lays out the sheer improbability of our biosphere, explains why life may be exceedingly rare in our universe, and considers death as a process, not simply as an instantaneous end. "
South African Journal of Science - Wieland Gievers
"The writing in the book is so articulate and the unfolding narrative so ambitious that one is carried along helter-skelter… The late Sir Hans would indeed be amazed."
Siddhartha Mukherjee
"In this compulsively readable book, Lane takes us on a riveting journey, ranging from the flow of energy to new ways of understanding cancer."
Booklist - George Kendall
"Transformer is a complex yet accessible, illuminating, and thrilling exploration of the vitality and elemental mysteries of our existence."
Nautilus - Philip Ball
"The story in Transformer is not just lively and engaging but filled with stimulating ideas about life’s origins and evolution. "
Olivia Judson
"Hugely ambitious and tremendously exciting."
Kirkus Reviews
2022-04-06
An enthusiastic, up-to-date overview of the biochemistry of life.
Lane, a professor of evolutionary biology and author of The Vital Question and Life Ascending, reminds us that energy flow animates cells and sets them apart from inanimate matter. All creatures produce energy, and all living tissues consume it; the second law of thermodynamics assures that this process is imperfect. The vicissitudes of life unravel the delicate symbiosis between living tissues, and hypoxia, infections, inflammation, and mutations all hamper energy flow. “Tissue function eventually becomes strained, biosynthetic pathways falter, ATP synthesis declines and the delicate web of symbiosis between tissues begins to fray,” writes the author. “And so we age.” Central to this “deep chemistry” is the Krebs cycle, a complex series of reactions whereby almost all cells break down carbohydrates, fats, and proteins to produce energy, with carbon dioxide and hydrogen as waste products. The process was discovered in the 1930s, and Lane does not conceal his amazement as he recounts the revelation, a generation later, that some primitive cells run the Krebs cycle in reverse, using carbon dioxide and hydrogen to make organic molecules. Furthermore, this reaction only occurs in the absence of oxygen and isn’t discouraged by the heat and toxic chemical conditions present on the young Earth and in deep-ocean hydrothermal vents today. As the mechanism for the primordial metabolism of life, it’s a prime candidate. Lane excels in describing the history of his subject, which includes many obsessive and not always magnanimous geniuses. The cycle itself includes a vast, complicated collection of chemical reactions that scientists are still exploring. “Most of the individual steps I’m going to show here,” writes the author, “are not ‘real,’ as the whole series occurs virtually instantaneously in a sort of soft-shoe shuffle.” A first-rate writer, Lane explains these concepts with a minimum of jargon, but readers unfamiliar with college biology and chemistry will struggle.
An exciting new approach to the science of life, but it’s not for the faint of heart.
