Life's ratchet : how molecular machines extract order from chaos /
Hoffmann, Peter M.
New York : Basic Books,
c2012.
Below the calm, ordered exterior of a living organism lies microscopic chaos, or what the author calls the molecular storm--specialized molecules immersed in a whirlwind of colliding water molecules. Our cells are filled with molecular machines, which, like tiny ratchets, transform random motion into ordered activity, and create the "purpose" that is the hallmark of life. Tiny electrical motors turn electrical voltage into motion, nanoscale factories custom-build other molecular machines, and mechanical machines twist, untwist, separate and package strands of DNA. Life, the author argues, emerges from the random motions of atoms filtered through these sophisticated structures of our evolved machinery. The book is grounded in the author's own cutting-edge research.-Book Jacket.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-261) and index.
Below the calm, ordered exterior of a living organism lies microscopic chaos, or what the author calls the molecular storm--specialized molecules immersed in a whirlwind of colliding water molecules. Our cells are filled with molecular machines, which, like tiny ratchets, transform random motion into ordered activity, and create the "purpose" that is the hallmark of life. Tiny electrical motors turn electrical voltage into motion, nanoscale factories custom-build other molecular machines, and mechanical machines twist, untwist, separate and package strands of DNA. Life, the author argues, emerges from the random motions of atoms filtered through these sophisticated structures of our evolved machinery. The book is grounded in the author's own cutting-edge research.-Book Jacket.
Molecular biology.
Bioenergetics.
Life (Biology)