Power, Sex, Suicide
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
Power, Sex, Suicide
| Full title | Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life |
|---|---|
| Author | Nick Lane |
| Published | 2005 |
| Pages | 368 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | Nick Lane’s argument that mitochondria — once free-living bacteria swallowed by another cell some two billion years ago — made complex life energetically possible, and that the terms of that merger still govern us: why there are two sexes, why cells commit programmed suicide, why we age. |
Where I heard about it
- University of Austin — assigned in Foundations of Science II on its Fall 2025 reading list, November 2025: the syllabus’s argument that biology has deep structure rather than a list of mechanisms — one endosymbiotic event followed through to sex, ageing and death. Full curriculum: UATX Fall Reading List.
About this book
Lane also traces why mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother and why warm-blooded animals exist. The three words of the title are the three consequences he traces back to the same origin event.
Connections
- UATX Fall Reading List — the curriculum this is assigned in.
- The Vaccine — the other Foundations of Science II text in this shard.
- Evolution — the endosymbiosis argument is an evolutionary one.
- Energy — mitochondria are where the energy budget of complex life is set.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.