Vital dust
Subtitle: life as a cosmic imperative
By: Christian de Duve.
Edition: 1995
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 1995
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 362
Subjects: Life -- Origin; Life (Biology); Evolution (Biology)
Genres: Science; Biology
Description: This book by Nobel prize-winning biochemist Christian de Duve surveys the molecular evidence and biochemical processes that testify to the origins of life and our universal descent from a last universal common ancestor.  The book is divided into seven parts (I-VII) with at least two or more chapters in each.  Part I, for example, which is entitled "The Age of Chemistry," contains four chapters - The Search for Origins; The First Catalysts of Life (including a treatment of thioesters); The Fuel for Emerging Life; and The Advent of RNA.   --  While Part II is entitled "The Age of Information," etc.  -  A sampling from the preface:  "...our knowledge of present-day metabolism yields insights into life's beginnings"  -   "the human version of cytochrome c differs from that of a rhesus monkey by a single amino acid and from those of the dog, rattlesnake, bullfrog, tuna fish, silkworm, wheat, and yeast by 11, 14, 18, 21, 31, 43, and 45 amino acids, respectively"
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [341]-350) and index.
Table of contents: title: The Search for Origins; title: The First Catalysts of Life