BIOLOGICAL ORDER 



As a result of the functioning of the enzymes, the bacterium 

 synthesizes more enzymes, and its size increases. The nucleus divides, 

 and finally the bacterium itself divides, thus giving rise to two 

 daughter cells. 



Simplicity or Complexity 



A few years ago a well-known physical chemist interested in 

 bacterial physiology wrote this remarkable sentence, "The structure 

 of the bacterial cell is simple." This is true of course from the 

 bacterial point of view. The bacterial machine works, synthesizes, 

 grows, and divides. And, as the bacterium is devoid of brain, it has 

 no problems. But for us, the suffering human beings who try to 

 penetrate the intimate nature of life, the bacterial cell, despite being 

 small, is far from simple. In this machine of around 1 fx. diameter,* 

 corresponding to a volume of 10~i2 milliliter, t a few thousand 

 specific molecular species are at work, manufacturing more of their 

 specific kind. And we would rather be inclined to say with Antony 

 van Leeuwenhoek, who in 1676 discovered the bacterial world, 

 "Dear God, what marvels there are in so small a creature." 



The fact that life could not be something simple has been 

 suspected for almost a century. In his famed classical book, Les 

 phhjomenes de la vie cormnuns aux animaux et aiix plantes {The 

 Phenomena of Life Commoji to Afiimals a?id Plants), Claude Bernard 

 produced an impressive statement. "The formula C18H9NO2," he 

 wrote, "by which one attempts to describe the protoplasm, is illusive. 

 In fact, the protoplasm is much more complicated." This was, 

 around 1875, the state of our knowledge, or perhaps the state of our 

 ignorance. It should, however, not be concluded that knowledge and 

 ignorance are synonymous. Anyhow, Claude Bernard certainly had 

 no idea of how much more complicated protoplasm really is. 



Unity 



At first sight, the problem seems formidable and the situation 

 hopeless. A cell contains some 2,000 to 5,000 species of macromole- 



* 1 /i is one thousandth part of a millimeter. 



t If they were cubes, lO^- of them, that is, a thousand billions, could be 

 packed into 1 milliliter. 



[10] 



