Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Section of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. sten.lindahl@karolinska.se
The advent of oxygenic photosynthesis and the accumulation of oxygen in our atmosphere opened up new possibilities for the development of life on Earth. The availability of oxygen, the most capable electron acceptor on our planet, allowed the development of highly efficient energy production from oxidative phosphorylation, which shaped the evolutionary development of aerobic life forms from the first multicellular organisms to the vertebrates.