14
MARCEL FLORKIN AND HOWARD S. MASON
compare the chemistry of life with the chemistry of the world (or
worlds!) in which life occurs, and to discover the manifestations of
matter and energy which characterize the degrees of life. At the
molecular level, comparative biochemistry seeks chemical similarities
and difference of composition and reaction throughout the phylogenetic
scale, and compares the physicochemical mechanisms by which energy
is transformed in organisms. As regards enzymes, Dixon and Webb
"use the term 'comparative enzyme biochemistry' to include two distinct
fields of study, namely, on the one hand comparison of the enzymic
equipment of different organs and species, and on the other hand the
comparison of pure preparations of a given enzyme obtained from
different sources" (6). At higher levels of organization, comparative
biochemistry seeks similarities and differences in those systems of
reactions upon which biological form and function ultimately depend.
In endeavoring to achieve these objectives, comparative biochemistry
has already developed a conceptual framework in which life is considered a phenomenon consistent with the inanimate phenomena of the
universe. Within this framework, purely biological taxonomies and
classifications of all aspects of life are clarified by a more fundamental
physicochemical classification in which organisms are described in
terms of molecular dynamics, and the differences between them are
characterized as specific and secondary variations upon the essential
ground plan shared by all living forms. The processes of evolution,
growth, differentiation, mutation, and inheritance, common to all life,
are understood as aspects of biochemical unity, and there is good reason
to believe that the principles which govern the extent of possible
diversity to which these processes lead will be worked out. And by
discovering that chemistry which is essential to all forms of life, comparative biochemistry may provide decisive clues to the origin of life
itself.
References
1. J. Baker, The cell theory: a restatement, history and critique. Quart. J. Microscop. Set. 89, 103-125 (1948).
2. E. Baldwin, "Comparative Biochemistry." Cambridge Univ. Press, London and
New York, 1949.
3. M. Florkin, "L'Evolution biochimique.
,, Masson, Paris, and Desoer, Liege, 1944.
4. L. J. Henderson, "The Fitness of the Environment," p. 312. Macmillan, New
York, 1913.
5. C. Oppenheimer, "Ferments and Their Actions," p. 81. Griffin, London, 1901.
(Translated by C. A. Mitchell.)
6. M. Dixon and E. C. Webb, "Enzymes," p. 621. Academic Press, New York,
1958.
7. A. J. Kluyver and C. B. van Niel, "The Microbe's Contribution to Biology."
Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1956.
MARCEL FLORKIN AND HOWARD S. MASON
compare the chemistry of life with the chemistry of the world (or
worlds!) in which life occurs, and to discover the manifestations of
matter and energy which characterize the degrees of life. At the
molecular level, comparative biochemistry seeks chemical similarities
and difference of composition and reaction throughout the phylogenetic
scale, and compares the physicochemical mechanisms by which energy
is transformed in organisms. As regards enzymes, Dixon and Webb
"use the term 'comparative enzyme biochemistry' to include two distinct
fields of study, namely, on the one hand comparison of the enzymic
equipment of different organs and species, and on the other hand the
comparison of pure preparations of a given enzyme obtained from
different sources" (6). At higher levels of organization, comparative
biochemistry seeks similarities and differences in those systems of
reactions upon which biological form and function ultimately depend.
In endeavoring to achieve these objectives, comparative biochemistry
has already developed a conceptual framework in which life is considered a phenomenon consistent with the inanimate phenomena of the
universe. Within this framework, purely biological taxonomies and
classifications of all aspects of life are clarified by a more fundamental
physicochemical classification in which organisms are described in
terms of molecular dynamics, and the differences between them are
characterized as specific and secondary variations upon the essential
ground plan shared by all living forms. The processes of evolution,
growth, differentiation, mutation, and inheritance, common to all life,
are understood as aspects of biochemical unity, and there is good reason
to believe that the principles which govern the extent of possible
diversity to which these processes lead will be worked out. And by
discovering that chemistry which is essential to all forms of life, comparative biochemistry may provide decisive clues to the origin of life
itself.
References
1. J. Baker, The cell theory: a restatement, history and critique. Quart. J. Microscop. Set. 89, 103-125 (1948).
2. E. Baldwin, "Comparative Biochemistry." Cambridge Univ. Press, London and
New York, 1949.
3. M. Florkin, "L'Evolution biochimique.
,, Masson, Paris, and Desoer, Liege, 1944.
4. L. J. Henderson, "The Fitness of the Environment," p. 312. Macmillan, New
York, 1913.
5. C. Oppenheimer, "Ferments and Their Actions," p. 81. Griffin, London, 1901.
(Translated by C. A. Mitchell.)
6. M. Dixon and E. C. Webb, "Enzymes," p. 621. Academic Press, New York,
1958.
7. A. J. Kluyver and C. B. van Niel, "The Microbe's Contribution to Biology."
Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1956.