Oxygen and the Evolution of Life

The importance of oxygen in the origin and evolution of life on Earth / Heinz Decker and Kensal E. van Holde

16.02.2012

The exciting story of the importance of oxygen in the origin and evolution of life on Earth is told in the book "Oxygen and the Evolution of Life" by Heinz Decker and Kensal E. van Holde. The two scientists from the Faculty of Biology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in Germany and the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Oregon State University in Corvallis, USA demonstrate the role oxygen played and is still playing in evolution. They begin with the formation of oxygen in young stars and its distribution in newly formed planets, such as the Earth. Free oxygen was not yet present in the early days of our planet, and so the first life forms were anaerobic. Only photosynthesis paved the way for life as we know it today. The book also addresses the interplay of oxygen and carbon dioxide and its consequences such as glaciation or global warming.

Concerning the physiological function of oxygen, the biophysicists provide an overview of oxygen metabolism and transport. For 30 years, Heinz Decker, Director of the Institute of Molecular Biophysics at Mainz University, has worked with oxygen-transport proteins, especially hemocyanin, which is responsible for the transport function in arthropods and mollusks and their "blue blood." During Decker's sabbatical at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole in Massachusetts, USA, the two scientists laid the groundwork for the new publication, which is aimed at both scientists and the interested general public.

At Mainz University, various groups outside of the Institute of Molecular Biophysics are engaged in research on oxygen and oxygen transport molecules, e.g. the Molecular Animal Physiology section headed by Professor Dr. Jürgen Markl and the Institute of Molecular Genetics, Genetic Security Research, and Consulting headed by Profesor Dr. Thomas Hankeln and Professor Dr. Erwin Schmidt. An interdisciplinary working group at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz addresses the topic of oxygen in biological systems. Furthermore, an interdisciplinary series of lectures on the biology and chemistry of oxygen has been offered regularly over the last ten years at JGU.