294 SESSION III. DISCUSSION 



from the well-known experiments of S. Miller [8] and also from those of K. Bahadur [9] 

 and T. E. Pavlovskaya & A. G. Pasynskii [10], that a complicated mixture of various com- 

 poimds was formed. There is every reason to suppose that even in the first living material 

 to be formed — the very first primaeval organism [11] — the multivariance of even the 

 simplest of chemical reactions led to the development of complicated chemical activity 

 giving rise to a great variety of substances — to materials with a very complicated structure. 

 The multivariance of chemical reactions gave rise to a chemically diversified raw material 

 on the basis of which there emerged the biochemical apparatus of unicellular and, later, 

 multicellular organisms. 



The multivariance of chemical reactions was, obviously, of decisive importance in the 

 course of the process of evolution when changes were taking place in the external medium. 



Changes in external conditions could strengthen or weaken particular tendencies and 

 even cause the main tendency to become confused with others in the 'bundle' of reactions. 

 This is indicated by the fact that the quantitative relationship between the amounts of 

 similar substances belonging to any one narrow group, formed within an organism, may 

 vary markedly under the influence of external factors (for examples, see my own work 



[3l). 



The formation of proteins, in particular protein enzymes, and hence also the self- 

 reproduction of the fundamental vital structures of the cells, thus constitutes a 'bundle' 

 of biochemical reactions. By affecting the relationship between different tendencies in 

 the bundle of reactions, changes in external circumstances can lead to changes in the 

 fundamental vital structures of cells. In this way changes in 'bundles' of biochemical 

 processes formed the basis for the process of variability of organisms under the action of 

 external conditions in the course of evolution [3]. 



The existence and change of 'bvmdles' of biochemical reactions is also of importance 

 in ontogenesis. Thus, processes of resynthesis in the renewal of substances in the organ- 

 ism are also 'bundles' of reactions and, thus, must obviously lead to a certain change in 

 the composition of substances if there has been any change in the external or internal 

 medium of the cells. It may be that the biological significance of the renewal of substances 

 lies in the fact that it provides a possibility for the organism to react to external influences 

 by means of certain changes in the chemical composition of the cells, tissues and organs. 



The multiplicity of the components of any individual enzymes, differing from one 

 another, to some extent, as to the optimal conditions for their action, may assure the 

 organism of the necessary intensity of enzymic reactions under variable conditions of 

 existence, which is important for the adaptation of the organism to the surrounding 

 medium [3, 12]. 



It is our opinion that the multivariance of chemical reactions, entailing the occurrence 

 of 'bundles' of reactions and thus the formation of a multiplicity of substances must be 

 taken seriously in any consideration of questions relating to the process of the origin and 

 development of life. 



REFERENCES 



1. A. M. GOLDOVSKIÏ, Sovetskaya Botanika, 14, 255, 1946. 



2. A. M. GOLDOVSKlI, Shornik Rabot Vsesoyuznogo nauchw-issledovateV skogo Instituta 



Zhirov (1941-45). Leningrad, p. 251, 1946. 



3. A. M. GOLDOVSKil, Izv. Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R., Ser. biol. i, 31, 1957. 



4. W. N. Haworth, R. L. Heath & S. Peat, J. chem. Soc, 55, 1942. 



5. D. L. Mould & R. L. M. Synge, Biochem. J., 58, 571, 1954. 



6. W. J. Whelan & J. M. Bailey, Biochem. J, 58, 560, 1954. 



7. A. M. GoLDOVSKi!, Usp. sovretnennoi Biol., 14, 140, 1941; Zhur. priklad. Khim. 19, 



279, 1946; Izv. Akad. Nauk S.S.S.R., Ser. Biol. 6, 87, 1954; Usp. Sovretnennoi 

 Biol. 40, 289, 1955. 



8. S. Miller, this Symposium. 



9. K. Bahadur, this Symposium. 



10. T. E. Pavlovskaya & A. G. PaSynskiI, this Symposium. 



IX. A. I. Oparin, Vozniknovenie Zhizni na Zemle, Moscow & Leningrad Izd. Akad. Nauk, 



S.S.S.R. 1941. 

 12. B. A. Rubin, Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, Ser. Biol., Pochvov., Geol., Geogr. 



I, 3, 1956. 



