The Philosophical Origins of Mitchell's Chemiosmotic Concepts |
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Authors: | John N Prebble |
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Institution: | (1) School of Biological Sciences, University of London, Egham, Royal Holloway, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK |
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Abstract: | Mitchell's formulation of the chemiosmotic theory of oxidative phosphorylation in 1961 lacked any experimental support for
its three central postulates. The path by which Mitchell reached this theory is explored. A major factor was the role of Mitchell's
philosophical system conceived in his student days at Cambridge. This system appears to have become a tacit influence on his
work in the sense that Polanyi understood all knowledge to be generated by an interaction between tacit and explicit knowing.
Early in his life Mitchell had evolved a simple philosophy based on fluctoids, fluctids and statids which was developed in
a thesis submitted for the z at the University of Cambridge, England. This aspect of his work was rejected by the examiners
and became a tacit element in his intellectual development. It is argued from his various publications that this philosophy
can be traced as an underlying theme behind much of Mitchell's theoretical writing in the 50's leading, through his notion
of vectorial metabolism, to the formulation and amplification of the chemiosmotic theory in the sixties. This philosophy formed
the basis for Mitchell of his understanding of biological systems and gave him his unique approach to cell biology.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | bioenergetics chemiosmotic theory fluctoids membrane transport /kwd> Peter Mitchell Michael Polanyi oxidative phosphorylation vectorial metabolism |
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