Chapter 4 : Searching for the Meaning of “Life”

Abstract:

The author was exhilarated by the opportunity at MIT to work with an extremophile (Clostridium thermocellum). The DNA-based biotechnology revolution is growing, and Cambridge is at the heart. The author's thesis described the regulation of active oxygen production by the fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Her job was to test the biodegradability by mixed bacterial cultures of consumer product ingredients such as those used in fabric softeners, laundry detergents, and diapers. Hydrogen was produced by the Big Bang and is the most abundant element in the universe. The proximal electron donor for life three to four billion years ago on prebiotic earth was iron, which forms the core of earth and other terrestrial planets. The author suspects that it is the ability of nitrogen to form flat, stable aromatic compounds with carbon that is critical to nitrogen's importance; configuration is important to proper alignment of molecules. The theory that eukaryotes arose by endosymbiosis between bacteria and archaeans is tremendously heartening. The rise of different eukaryotic types by the mixing and matching of cell organelles, as described by Margulis, renews the author's faith in probability. The rapid evolution of microorganisms-because of their short generation times-will produce a corollary to the Law of Microbial Infallibility.