Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life
Nick Lane
Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, in 2005
ISBN 9780199205646
354 pages

The title of the book proved to be an eye opener to the deeply intense dissertation on mitochondria and the meaning of life. Nick Lane takes us back to some of the earliest studies on the cell and how it works and along the way back to his present (early 2000s) captures the many seminal papers on the development of the various theories on the origin of life on our planet and the rise of the Eucaryotic cell which includes the powerhouse of the cell the mitochondria. Interestingly it is this mitochondria which lets all of us look at our deep ancestry if we decide to invest some of our genealogical money in DNA testing. For me, I have found such research to be absolutely fascinating and I continue to discover more and more about my deep ancestry as a result. If you are looking to connect yourself by name back thousands of years that just isn't going to happen but you will know how your ancient ancestor left Africa to then follow their own migration path to their resting spot before the great migrations of the last three or four hundred years or in my case just a little less than 200 years when my first ancestor left their resting area to come to Canada in 1818.

The book is written with an Introduction and then seven parts and eighteen chapters spread between these parts and ends with the Epilogue. The use of parts as he has them becomes self explanatory as you read through the book. He refers back to the different parts as he presents the various hypotheses that have emerged with respect to the initial discovery of mtDNA to the possible evolution of the Eucaryotic cell containing mitochondria, through a study of the function of mitochondria within the cell and then into ageing and an excellent summary in the last chapter which he labels Epilogue and it stands alone as it own part (8) and without a chapter number since it is a summation of the main points in the entire book.

The Introduction is the slow part of the book unless you are uptodate on your Biology and all the terms. It is 48 years since I have studied Biology although I worked in Zoology after graduation and have done a fair amount of reading in DNA over the last five or six years. None the less I found that the first section was slow going as I absorbed all of his information in the Introduction. Do not be discouraged if you find that to be the case. It is more than worthwhile to work your way through this section as the rest of the book quite grabs your attention and it becomes very hard to put it down. Fortunately I read most of the book on the train going to London and returning from Western's Homecoming on the train back.

Part one is entitled: Hopeful Monster: The Origin of the Eukaryotic Cell. Taking us far back in time the author brings us up to the present hypotheses. A very interesting read I found.

Part two is entitled The Vital Force: Proton Power and the Origin of Life. Again it does help to have a background in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics as I am reading alone but not essential. I can remember when Biology was primarily doing excellent drawings and laboratory experiments on frogs and small mammals. The change in Biology is perhaps the greatest in any of the natural sciences in terms of the skills you  must bring to this natural science these days. A very interesting chapter once again.

Part three is entitled: Insider Deal: The Foundations of Complexity. As a former Creationist I have moved on a long way from this point of view. But I haven't lost my deep religious attitude towards life. I like the challenge though of reading how life evolved and knowing that my God is still there with me along the journey of life. Again a most revealing chapter.

Part four is entitled: Power Laws: Size and the Ramp of Ascending Complexity. Continuing on with the evolution of the Eucaryotic Cell and the movement towards warm blooded mammals is an interesting chapter and still one would wonder why I, a genealogist, would feel that this book is adding to my genealogical knowledge bank. Perhaps part of that is my being first attracted to yDNA and mtDNA and then to traditional genealogy that answers that question. I still avidly read everything I can find on DNA. This chapter too is revealing and I am starting to relate it to my genealogical meandering in deep ancestry.

Part five is entitled: Murder or Suicide: The Troubled Birth of the Individual. This section brings us closer to ourselves and how we exist as a multi cellular organism with tremendous diversity. His constant references between the many classes of mammals is an excellent way to understand mankind.

Part six is entitled: Battle of the Sexes: Human Pre-History and the Nature of Gender. Now we are into genealogy and deep ancestry. His discussion on the evolution of the sexes is a most interesting one and again a very good read.

Part seven is entitled: Clock of Life: Why Mitochondria Kill us in the End. Perhaps this part more than anything brings the book into genealogy and the story of families. For the story of families is the story of birth, mating and death - a constant and continuous cycle that either brings our line down to the present or ends those of collateral lines leaving us as the sole carrier of the markers that delineated our family line. Again a fascinating read.

The Epilogue is an excellent review of the high points of the book and a summary of what we have learned and where we are moving in terms of more knowledge.

I highly recommend this book to those who wish to read more about the evolution of mankind and in particular the evolution of mitochondria DNA and how it defines the family lines.