Autumn 2025: Professor Nick Lane | The Gifford Lectures: Beyond the Series - Why is Life the way it is? Join This Gifford Lecture Life is this way for a reason. But the singular origin of complex life was no miracle. Nick Lane Nick Lane is Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry and Director of the Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution (CLOE) at University College London. His research is on how energy flow has shaped evolution from the origin of life to the evolution of complex eukaryotic cells and the emergence of traits such as sex, ageing and consciousness. Nick has published more than 130 papers in leading journals including Nature, Cell and Science, and written five award-winning books. These have been translated into 30 languages and recognized by the Royal Society Science Book Prize (2010), the Biochemical Society Award (2015) and the Royal Society Faraday Prize (2016). Bill Gates called The Vital Question “an amazing inquiry into the origins of life”. Lecture Abstract: Why is Life the Way it Is? Life seems to have occupied every niche on Earth. Short of flouting the laws of physics, anything looks possible. But that view is deceptive. All complex life is composed of the same type of cell, which arose just once in the four-billion-year history of life. The barrier to complexity was probably not genetic, but energetic. Bacteria are constrained by the way they generate energy, through an electrical charge on their bounding membrane with the force of a bolt of lightning. This force can be traced back to life’s putative origins in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Here, the flow of charge can drive a network of chemical reactions, starting from CO2, which prefigures the metabolism of all cells today. Concealed within the genetic code itself are patterns which suggest that biological information arose from direct physical interactions in metabolism. If so, genetic information emerges predictably from chemistry and should be similar in life on any of the 40 billion wet, rocky planets in the Milky Way. Physicists have long been puzzled by the fine-tuning of the cosmological constants, yet the story from biology is equally unsettling. Life is this way for a reason. But the singular origin of complex life was no miracle. Image Join Us for This Special Autumn Lecture. Be part of this exciting new strand of the Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh. Whether you choose to attend in person or join us online via live stream, this event offers a unique opportunity to explore some of life’s most profound questions with one of today’s leading scientific thinkers.The event will take place in person in Edinburgh and will also be live streamed for those who are unable to join us in person. Attendance is free, but registration is required for both in-person and online access. Click below to reserve your place. Secure Your Spot Oct 30 2025 17.00 - 20.00 Autumn 2025: Professor Nick Lane | The Gifford Lectures: Beyond the Series - Why is Life the way it is? The Gifford Lectures: Beyond the Series introduces a new strand within the historic Gifford Lectures, hosted by the University of Edinburgh — a series of standalone autumn lectures that carry the spirit of the original programme into fresh and timely directions. This inaugural lecture features award-winning author and evolutionary biochemist Professor Nick Lane, who will explore the origins and constraints of life in a fascinating talk titled “Why is Life the Way it Is?” Informatics Forum 10 Crichton Street Edinburgh EH8 9AB Google Maps Register
Autumn 2025: Professor Nick Lane | The Gifford Lectures: Beyond the Series - Why is Life the way it is? Join This Gifford Lecture Life is this way for a reason. But the singular origin of complex life was no miracle. Nick Lane Nick Lane is Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry and Director of the Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution (CLOE) at University College London. His research is on how energy flow has shaped evolution from the origin of life to the evolution of complex eukaryotic cells and the emergence of traits such as sex, ageing and consciousness. Nick has published more than 130 papers in leading journals including Nature, Cell and Science, and written five award-winning books. These have been translated into 30 languages and recognized by the Royal Society Science Book Prize (2010), the Biochemical Society Award (2015) and the Royal Society Faraday Prize (2016). Bill Gates called The Vital Question “an amazing inquiry into the origins of life”. Lecture Abstract: Why is Life the Way it Is? Life seems to have occupied every niche on Earth. Short of flouting the laws of physics, anything looks possible. But that view is deceptive. All complex life is composed of the same type of cell, which arose just once in the four-billion-year history of life. The barrier to complexity was probably not genetic, but energetic. Bacteria are constrained by the way they generate energy, through an electrical charge on their bounding membrane with the force of a bolt of lightning. This force can be traced back to life’s putative origins in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Here, the flow of charge can drive a network of chemical reactions, starting from CO2, which prefigures the metabolism of all cells today. Concealed within the genetic code itself are patterns which suggest that biological information arose from direct physical interactions in metabolism. If so, genetic information emerges predictably from chemistry and should be similar in life on any of the 40 billion wet, rocky planets in the Milky Way. Physicists have long been puzzled by the fine-tuning of the cosmological constants, yet the story from biology is equally unsettling. Life is this way for a reason. But the singular origin of complex life was no miracle. Image Join Us for This Special Autumn Lecture. Be part of this exciting new strand of the Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh. Whether you choose to attend in person or join us online via live stream, this event offers a unique opportunity to explore some of life’s most profound questions with one of today’s leading scientific thinkers.The event will take place in person in Edinburgh and will also be live streamed for those who are unable to join us in person. Attendance is free, but registration is required for both in-person and online access. Click below to reserve your place. Secure Your Spot Oct 30 2025 17.00 - 20.00 Autumn 2025: Professor Nick Lane | The Gifford Lectures: Beyond the Series - Why is Life the way it is? The Gifford Lectures: Beyond the Series introduces a new strand within the historic Gifford Lectures, hosted by the University of Edinburgh — a series of standalone autumn lectures that carry the spirit of the original programme into fresh and timely directions. This inaugural lecture features award-winning author and evolutionary biochemist Professor Nick Lane, who will explore the origins and constraints of life in a fascinating talk titled “Why is Life the Way it Is?” Informatics Forum 10 Crichton Street Edinburgh EH8 9AB Google Maps Register
Oct 30 2025 17.00 - 20.00 Autumn 2025: Professor Nick Lane | The Gifford Lectures: Beyond the Series - Why is Life the way it is? The Gifford Lectures: Beyond the Series introduces a new strand within the historic Gifford Lectures, hosted by the University of Edinburgh — a series of standalone autumn lectures that carry the spirit of the original programme into fresh and timely directions. This inaugural lecture features award-winning author and evolutionary biochemist Professor Nick Lane, who will explore the origins and constraints of life in a fascinating talk titled “Why is Life the Way it Is?”
