Under The Microscope

BLUEPRINT FOR A CELL, The Nature and Origin of Life, by Christian de Duve; Neil Patterson Publishers, US, 1991; ISBN 0-89278- 410-5; 275 pages; UK17.95

A Nobel Prize-winning biologist wrestles with one of humanity's greatest puzzles -- how did life get started?

From Darwin's "warm little pond" to Miller's "primeval soup" and the cometary virus bringers imagined by Hoyle and Wickramasinghe, scientists have suggested many possible scenarios for the beginning of life. De Duve's differs from others in many respects, including the late entry into "protolife" of information, such as base sequences in RNA or DNA, and protein/lipid membranes.

As befits one of the world's leading students of sub-cellular organelles, de Duve has well-developed ideas on the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts, the energy units for animal and plant cells. He is firmly in favour of a free-living, prokaryotic ancestry for these organelles, and he also explains in detail how the many internal membranes of the eukaryotic cell may have come into being.

His picture of a membrane-less, extended "protocytosol" is so persuasive that he is forced to find reasons for the transformation of "protolife" into the cellular form we know today. His conclusion is that compartmentation was an inescapable part of developing Darwinian competition, and the testing of information.

De Duve supports all his suggestions, however speculative, with persuasive arguments, but he does not shirk mention of contrary evidence or adverse criticism.

In his final chapter, "Chance or Necessity", de Duve is unashamedly deterministic, in the sense that "life is an obligatory manifestation of the combinatorial properties of matter". He is more for necessity than chance, admitting to the romantic notion that elsewhere in the Universe there may be other beings "capable of enjoying beauty, experiencing love, seeking truth and apprehending mystery".

This well-produced book is a pleasure to handle, and de Duve's style is lucid and engaging. There is an ample bibliography, two indexes, and a welcome absence of printing errors. It justifies the publisher's claim that it "is the most up-to-date and comprehensive account available in the nature and origin of life."

Bernard Howard