BIOL 172 |
| Application of the Planck-Benzinger thermal work function to biological systems has demonstrated a basic rule for life processes, in that in that there is a lower cutoff point, Th, where entropy is favorable but enthalpy is unfavorable and upper cutoff, Tm, above which enthalpy is favorable but entropy unfavorable. Only between these two limits, where ΔGo(T) = 0, is the net chemical driving force favorable for biological processes. We have examined data from 27 interacting biological systems, 35 sequence-specific dipeptide hydrophobic interactions, surfactants micellization and the condensation of water vapor. We find that each biological system will exhibit a negative minimum of Gibbs free energy change at a well-defined temperature, Ts, where TΔSo = 0, which may defined as the thermal set point. At this unique point, the maximum work can be accomplished and the system is at its most stable. It is apparent from these extensive studies of biological interactions that the origins of life in any system are inevitably linked to a single, unique thermal set point. |
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Frontiers in Chemical Biology
5:00 PM-7:00 PM, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Poster
Division of Biological Chemistry |