“The surface of our planet is populated by living things – curious, intricately organized chemical factories that take in matter from their surroundings and use these raw materials to generate copies of themselves. The living organisms appear extraordinarily diverse in almost every way. What could be more different than a tiger and a piece of seaweed, or a bacterium and a tree? Yet our ancestors, knowing nothing of cells or DNA, saw that all these things had something in common. They called that something “life”, marveled at it, struggled to define it, and despaired of explaining what it was or how it worked in terms that relate to nonliving matter.
The discoveries of the twentieth century have not diminished the marvel – quite the contrary. But they have lifted away the mystery surrounding the nature of life. We can now see that all living things are made of cells, and that these units of living matter all share the same machinery for their most basic functions. Living things, though infinitely varied when viewed from the outside, are fundamentally similar inside. The whole of biology is a counterpoint between the two themes: astonishing variety in individual particulars; astonishing constancy in fundamental mechanisms.” (Alberts et al., 2002)
in the midst of trying and failing miserably to mug molecular cell biology, i almost forgot why i chose biochemistry of all courses. it’s definitely not something i have a flair for, but the occasional thought that i’m delving into the chemistry of life never fails to fascinate me, and the knowledge that all organisms on earth are actually fundamentally the same is both amazing and bizarrely comforting.
last year, one of my lecturers flashed an OHP acetate that read “Life is improbable, but obviously, possible.” she left that same slide there on the projector for the entire lecture. that may be why this sentence is still floating around in the recesses of my mind. but more so, it must have been because this pseudo oxymoron is a striking fact. it’s nothing short of miraculous how life breaks all the barriers of improbability and manifests itself in infinite forms that show constancy in diversity.
i suddenly feel quite inspired! i really wish i have such motivation whenever i try to read my notes, because reading page after page of voluminous texts on small little molecules is like popping one sleeping pill after another. it’s the ultimate lullaby! zzz.
