CATALYSIS: THE GUIDE OF LIFE 97 



gene of the allelomorphic pair picks out of the common milieu exactly 

 those constituents which lead to its own particular formation. Fur- 

 thermore, this specific formation occurs nowhere else in the cell 

 except precisely at the locus occupied by each particular allelomorph. 

 All these properties conform to our postulated autocatalytic repro- 

 duction. 



"We would like to point out one more property of genes which has 

 its analogue in a rudimentary way in the alum crystal. The growth 

 rates of the genes of a given cell are remarkable in their uniformity. 

 This holds true not only for a given temperature but throughout the 

 great range of temperatures to which some organisms are adapted. 

 If a particular gene did not keep step with the others it would either 

 overreproduce or else fail to reproduce in time to be included in the 

 daughter cells with the other genes. 



"Not simply this uniformity in temperature characteristics, but a 

 considerable number of other properties, for example, the universal 

 synthesis of the substance called chromatin, which envelops the genes 

 or the string of genes, and the remarkable similarity in chemical con- 

 stitution of nuclear materials as revealed by the exceedingly crude 

 methods of chemical analysis now available, all point to one striking 

 conclusion. This conclusion is that the genes may all be viewed as 

 simple variants of one fundamental structure. We may suppose that 

 their power of autocatalytic synthesis is the outcome of the possession 

 of a common pattern of structure, and that the different allelomorphs, 

 or indeed the different genes in a given cell or even the different genes 

 in apparently very widely separated forms, are the same except for 

 differences in the fringe of the gene, in its side chains and in localized 

 additions or substitutions. 



"To return to our oversimplified analogy in the alum crystal: it is 

 remarkable that alum crystals retain their specific structure through 

 a host of substitutions of materials, or "mutations." Thus, rubidium, 

 cesium and even ammonium can be substituted for the potassium; 

 iron, manganese, etc., can be utilized instead of the aluminum; 

 selanion (Se0 4 ), etc., instead of the sulfanion. The most essential 

 characteristic of an alum crystal seems to be the particular strain set 

 up in the local ether when alum crystals originated. It is the structure, 

 the particular space-lattice present, that matters, and the points in 

 that lattice can be taken by any materials whose outwardly directed 

 fields of force are flexible enough to adapt themselves to the particular 

 'set' that is in the local ether." 



The Industrial Importance of Catalysts 



In past years, sulfuric acid, a basic material to chemical indus- 

 try, was made in dilute state in large lead-lined "chambers" and 



