1. PERSPECTIVES OF METABOLIC INHIBITION 11 



chrome system during this period were the first investigations to utilize in- 

 hibitors to establish the order of activity in a metabolic sequence. This 

 incomplete survey shows what sudden strides were made in this field during 

 these years. More detailed accounts of this period and of the earlier devel- 

 opments will be given in the later volumes under the individual inhibitors. 

 Despite the importance of enzyme inhibitors as tools used by investiga- 

 tors in the various fields and the progressively greater application of inhi- 

 bitors in industry and medicine, these inhibitors have an interest and fas- 

 cination to some of us beyond their practical applications. The study 

 of a new inhibitor, its intricacies of mechanism, and its manifold effects 

 upon different types of cells, or the investigation of well-known inhibitors 

 on new systems, is an exciting exploration involving concepts on all levels 

 of biological organization and gives rewards of scientific experience over 

 and above the satisfaction of having derived information that may be uti- 

 lized in a more thorough understanding of the cell or of contributing to the 

 alleviation of disease. 



