Nick LaneExternal link is a Biochemist, Professor at University College Londen, Director of UCL Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution (CLOE) and author of several popular science books on the origin and evolution of life from a biochemistry perspective. This public lecture is open to all, from curious bachelor students to anyone interested in the fascinating questions surrounding the emergence of life on Earth and elsewhere. In the lecture, Nick will show that life can be a surprisingly good guide to its own origin in terms of energy flow, metabolism, and the genetic code. Deep-sea hydrothermal systems combine structure and flow to drive CO2 fixation into a proto-metabolism resembling modern metabolism, which in turn gives rise to the first genes. He will present data from his own lab showing that each of these stages is feasible, right through to the emergence of genetic information in autotrophic protocells.