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One Plus One Equals One
We are in the midst of a revolution. It is a scientific revolution built upon the tools of molecular biology, with which we probe and prod the living world in ways unimaginable a few decades ago. Need to track a bacterium at the root of a hospital outbreak? No the offending germ's complete genetic profile can be obtained in 24 hours. We insert human DNA into E. coli bacteria to produce our insulin.
It is natural to look at biotechnology in the 21st century with a mix of wonder and fear. But biotechnology is not as 'unnatural' as one might think. All living organisms use the same molecular processes to replicate their genetic material and the same basic code to 'read' their genes. The similarities can be seen in their DNA. Here, John Archibald shows how evolution has been 'plugging-and-playing' with the subcellular components of life from the very beginning and continues to do so today. For evidence, we need look no further than the inner workings of our own cells. Molecular biology has allowed us to gaze back more than three billion years, revealing the microbial mergers and acquisitions that underpin the development of complex life. One Plus One Equals One tells the story of how we have come to this realization and its implications.
It is natural to look at biotechnology in the 21st century with a mix of wonder and fear. But biotechnology is not as 'unnatural' as one might think. All living organisms use the same molecular processes to replicate their genetic material and the same basic code to 'read' their genes. The similarities can be seen in their DNA. Here, John Archibald shows how evolution has been 'plugging-and-playing' with the subcellular components of life from the very beginning and continues to do so today. For evidence, we need look no further than the inner workings of our own cells. Molecular biology has allowed us to gaze back more than three billion years, revealing the microbial mergers and acquisitions that underpin the development of complex life. One Plus One Equals One tells the story of how we have come to this realization and its implications.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 5, 2017
The origin of complex life is endlessly fascinating, and various evolutionary innovations made it possible. This book covers an extraordinarily important moment: symbiosis between existing cells which produced the organelles on which most cells rely. We wouldn’t get far without mitochondria producing ATP for us. And yet it’s been clear to me for a long time that mitochondria had a separate origin. Some of the DNA in our cells exists solely within our mitochondria. That DNA doesn’t even obey the same rules as the rest of our DNA when it comes to producing gametes.
For me, then, this book took something incredibly obvious and broke it down into more steps than I needed. It works to convince you that symbiosis could have occurred. But to me, that’s immediately apparent from the fact that some of our organelles have clear extra-cellular origins. So that aspect of the book was quite slow for me. It’s interesting to read about the research and the people who proposed the theory anyway, though. If you’re into biology and you don’t already know/accept that mitochondria were once free-living bacteria, this is interesting and illuminating!
On a related note (not addressed within the book), it makes me wonder… How do people who don’t believe in evolution handle the existence of mitochondria? They pretty clearly show evolution and co-evolution occurred in the genesis of complex life. If mitochondria weren’t free-living bacteria that adapted to living within simple cells, why do they have their own genetic material? Did God leave it in by accident?
Don’t answer that.
Originally posted on my blog.
For me, then, this book took something incredibly obvious and broke it down into more steps than I needed. It works to convince you that symbiosis could have occurred. But to me, that’s immediately apparent from the fact that some of our organelles have clear extra-cellular origins. So that aspect of the book was quite slow for me. It’s interesting to read about the research and the people who proposed the theory anyway, though. If you’re into biology and you don’t already know/accept that mitochondria were once free-living bacteria, this is interesting and illuminating!
On a related note (not addressed within the book), it makes me wonder… How do people who don’t believe in evolution handle the existence of mitochondria? They pretty clearly show evolution and co-evolution occurred in the genesis of complex life. If mitochondria weren’t free-living bacteria that adapted to living within simple cells, why do they have their own genetic material? Did God leave it in by accident?
Don’t answer that.
Originally posted on my blog.
October 29, 2017
Kniha je písaná veľmi príjemným štýlom, preto po nej môže siahnúť nielen laik, ale aj znalec z vedeckých kruhov.
Na začiatku nás hneď privíta veľmi milá autorova poznámka k českému prekladu. V knihe sa na pár miestach spomínajú aj objavy z našej Karlovej univerzity a som rada, že práve naši prednášajúci a vedci z laboratóri sa podieľajú na tak zaujímavých výskumoch a že aj vďaka ich snahe sa prikladajú kúsok po kúsku dieliky do skladačky a pomáhajú ozrejmiť nové nepoznané končiny.
Autor veľmi pekne a jednoducho vysvetľuje čitateľovi, čo je to bunka, ako bunka funguje, čo je to DNA, ... a hlavne nezabúda na mená vedcov, ktorí stáli za významnými objavmi. Aj keď som biológ, mnohé mená boli pre mňa neznáme a doteraz nechápem, ako som mohla nepoznať napr. Lynn Margulis.
Postupne prechádza zo všeobecných informácií až k tomu, o čom je samotný názov a to problematike endosymbiózy. Odhaľuje koľkými úskaliami museli mnohí vedci prejsť, aby sa nakoniec potvrdilo, že ich teória/hypotéza bola správna. Mňa osobne veľmi fascinovalo ako dlho sa mnohí bránili myšlienke endosymbiózy a že v podstate stále je endosymbióza pre nás veľkou neznámou, ktorá nám ma stále, čo povedať.
Na konci knihy sa spomínaju aj nové záhadne organizmy ako napr. Paulinella alebo tzv. Sea Sheep a tiež sa načínajú témy o sekundárnej endosymbióze, kleptoplastidoch atď ... Veľmi oceňujeme, že autor venoval aj týmto relatívne novým témam dosť priestoru a tak kniha vzbudzuje dojem naozaj komplexného celku.
Ako možné negatívum by sa dalo vnímať, že autor nevenoval viac priestoru fyziológii a biochemizmu týchto organel, ale myslím si, že tieto témy sú tak obsiahlé, že by si zaslúžili samy o sebe samostatné knihy.
Ak sa chcete dozvedieť viac o chloroplastoch,mitochondriach alebo všeobecne o bunkách a máte radi aj trochu histórie v texte, tak určite doporučujem !
Na začiatku nás hneď privíta veľmi milá autorova poznámka k českému prekladu. V knihe sa na pár miestach spomínajú aj objavy z našej Karlovej univerzity a som rada, že práve naši prednášajúci a vedci z laboratóri sa podieľajú na tak zaujímavých výskumoch a že aj vďaka ich snahe sa prikladajú kúsok po kúsku dieliky do skladačky a pomáhajú ozrejmiť nové nepoznané končiny.
Autor veľmi pekne a jednoducho vysvetľuje čitateľovi, čo je to bunka, ako bunka funguje, čo je to DNA, ... a hlavne nezabúda na mená vedcov, ktorí stáli za významnými objavmi. Aj keď som biológ, mnohé mená boli pre mňa neznáme a doteraz nechápem, ako som mohla nepoznať napr. Lynn Margulis.
Postupne prechádza zo všeobecných informácií až k tomu, o čom je samotný názov a to problematike endosymbiózy. Odhaľuje koľkými úskaliami museli mnohí vedci prejsť, aby sa nakoniec potvrdilo, že ich teória/hypotéza bola správna. Mňa osobne veľmi fascinovalo ako dlho sa mnohí bránili myšlienke endosymbiózy a že v podstate stále je endosymbióza pre nás veľkou neznámou, ktorá nám ma stále, čo povedať.
Na konci knihy sa spomínaju aj nové záhadne organizmy ako napr. Paulinella alebo tzv. Sea Sheep a tiež sa načínajú témy o sekundárnej endosymbióze, kleptoplastidoch atď ... Veľmi oceňujeme, že autor venoval aj týmto relatívne novým témam dosť priestoru a tak kniha vzbudzuje dojem naozaj komplexného celku.
Ako možné negatívum by sa dalo vnímať, že autor nevenoval viac priestoru fyziológii a biochemizmu týchto organel, ale myslím si, že tieto témy sú tak obsiahlé, že by si zaslúžili samy o sebe samostatné knihy.
Ak sa chcete dozvedieť viac o chloroplastoch,mitochondriach alebo všeobecne o bunkách a máte radi aj trochu histórie v texte, tak určite doporučujem !
July 17, 2024
Dosud mě snad nikdy nenapadlo, o něčem tak fundamentálním jako je buňka (o níž se vlastně každý něco dozvěděl již na základní škole), uvažovat v souvislosti s evolucí. O to víc mě fascinovalo poznat něco tak zajímavého, jako je evoluce symbiotická.
Samotná kniha je srozumitelná i pro neodborníky. Sice je pravda, že s přibývajícími stránkami značně stoupá i počet odborných termínů, ale autorovi se podařilo zasadit fakta do historického pozadí velkých biologických objevů dvacátého století tak, že vytvořil vcelku čtivý příběh, který mimochodem trvá už čtyři miliardy let.
Samotná kniha je srozumitelná i pro neodborníky. Sice je pravda, že s přibývajícími stránkami značně stoupá i počet odborných termínů, ale autorovi se podařilo zasadit fakta do historického pozadí velkých biologických objevů dvacátého století tak, že vytvořil vcelku čtivý příběh, který mimochodem trvá už čtyři miliardy let.
February 12, 2019
I probably would have got more out of this book if it hadn't taken me so long to read it because uni got in the way (This was also the reason why I read it in so many stages). Regardless, this is well written, interesting, easy to understand and engaging. It's everything a science book should be. My only criticism is that it, at times, felt a little disjointed, although this might just have been because of how I was reading it.
December 29, 2024
The (hi)story about endosymbiosis starring mitochondria, the enabler who started it all; and chloroplast, the biggest modifier of our biosphere.
I was familiar with the development of the endosymbiosis theory in the early chapters. So I was more engaged by the later chapters zooming in on cell biochemistry of mitochondria and chloroplast, a dry topic made interesting by linking the mechanical inner workings of a cell with its evolutionary significance.
I was familiar with the development of the endosymbiosis theory in the early chapters. So I was more engaged by the later chapters zooming in on cell biochemistry of mitochondria and chloroplast, a dry topic made interesting by linking the mechanical inner workings of a cell with its evolutionary significance.
August 25, 2023
Zaujímavé a dobre napísané. Prvé kapitoly vysvetľujú všetky potrebné pojmy, ktoré potom autor používa na úvod do endosymbiozi. Autor podáva lekcie nielen o poslednom stave nášho poznania ale popisuje aj históriu kto a ako tieto poznatky formoval.
August 30, 2023
I love reading about endosymbiosis, it's absolutely fascinating!
July 18, 2020
This book of popular science is a fascinating read. Concise, simply put and told with unpolished excitement, Archibald explains both symbiosis and the process of human discovery which led to our understanding of its necessity to the development of animals, plants and all other eukaryotic organisms.
In short, endosymbiosis occurs when one cell takes in another, smaller cell, with which it swaps energy and nutrients to their mutual benefit. The most important examples of this phenomenon are the mitochondrion and the chloroplast, where cellular respiration and photosynthesis occur. Without such organelles, any life beyond the unicellular would be impossible; indeed, Archibald explains that even complex unicellular organisms may only have developed after early symbiosis between larger bacteria and that which eventually became the mitochondrion.
The book was a superb exposition of these relatively unsung discoveries and, although there were some trifling proofreading errors, the book as a whole was a delight. I would happily recommend it to anyone interested in the history of life from a stage so early, that to call it embryonic would be to overstate its development by more than a billion years.
In short, endosymbiosis occurs when one cell takes in another, smaller cell, with which it swaps energy and nutrients to their mutual benefit. The most important examples of this phenomenon are the mitochondrion and the chloroplast, where cellular respiration and photosynthesis occur. Without such organelles, any life beyond the unicellular would be impossible; indeed, Archibald explains that even complex unicellular organisms may only have developed after early symbiosis between larger bacteria and that which eventually became the mitochondrion.
The book was a superb exposition of these relatively unsung discoveries and, although there were some trifling proofreading errors, the book as a whole was a delight. I would happily recommend it to anyone interested in the history of life from a stage so early, that to call it embryonic would be to overstate its development by more than a billion years.
January 13, 2015
A quite readable account of how eukaryotic cells gained chloroplasts and mitochondria. It is still a fairly dense topic so most non-biologists are likely to need more than one reading to grasp all that's here. I do recommend it to those with a strong science background and a curiosity about the early evolution of life on the planet and the origins of photosynthetic plants. Quite an eye-opener.
January 2, 2021
One of the most interesting subjects in the world. I would prefer less namedropping and more facts though!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews