VI 



endergonic bond is established. We know how, in fermentation, 

 the bonds in hexose or triosephosphate are shifted around till the 

 P's become ^P's which, transferred on to ADP, can support 

 endergonic syntheses. We have an astounding knowledge about 

 the processes in which our foodstuffs are used to build our body, 

 erect the edifice of life, construct its machinery; but how energy is 

 moving this machine, how work, tu, is done, be it motion, me- 

 chanic, osmotic, or electric work, in a word, how energy is driving 

 life, we do not know. Dazzled by our successes we even forget to 

 ask. 



This ''chiaroscuro,"'^ "dear-obscure," is one of the most char- 

 acteristic traits of current biochemistry. Such a schism between the 

 known and unknown suggests that some basic information is miss- 

 ing. This book represents a guess about its nature. 



There is one reason why the inquiry into this duality is urgent 

 and imperative. Corresponding to the big lacunas in our under- 

 standing there are equally big lacunas in medical science. Most 

 human suffering, at present, is caused by the so-called "degenera- 

 tive diseases" — the name standing for "diseases we don't under- 

 stand and, consequently, can do nothing about." The existence 

 of such a closed group of diseases also points towards some major 

 gap in our basic knowledge. Possibly, all these gaps, may they 

 relate to normal function or to disease, have one common denomi- 

 nator, some process which, hitherto, eluded detection. Some funda- 

 mental fact, if not a whole dimension, is missing from our biologi- 

 cal thinking. 



Shortcuts, in science, mostly turn out to be blind alleys and the 

 only safe approach to fundamental questions is that on the basic 

 level. Cures for disease flow out of progress in understanding as 



* "Chiaroscuro," in painting and the graphic arts, denotes the mixture of 

 highlights and darkness, as often found, for instance, in Rembrandt's etchings. 



