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Krasnow Institute > Monday Seminars > Abstracts
The Feed-Down Principle Harold Morowitz Biology appears to be organized in a hierarchical fashion with a biochemical core consisting of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA cycle or reductive TCA cycle) and the reaction network producing all of the key biochemical building blocks. These lead to higher levels of structure such as membranes and catalytic function such as enzymes. Selection in an evolutionary sense is contingent on favorable feed-down to support the necessary core. This is then a biological universal, a principle that applies in some sense to all the upper hierarchies. We will examine the first few levels leading to prokaryoates. The necessity of the TCA cycle, and the feed down principle constitute biodesign at its most atomic level.
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