The vital question: Earth teems with life but why is it the way it is, and how did it begin in the first place? Nick Lane unravels the tangled history of life. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Nick's book "The Vital Question: Why is life the way it is?" is available to buy now - https://geni.us/JjoZRx Nick Lane and Matthew Cobb came together to tell the story of life. Watch Matthew Cobb’s take on the tale here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYxASuEqMlY And watch the Q&A here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4N6ws1YTEk Nick Lane is an evolutionary biochemist in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London. His work focuses on the origin of life, and the origin and evolution of eukaryotes. He is also author of prize-winning popular science books, including 'Life ascending'. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.