From owner-btk-mca@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Fri Jun 29 00:37:19 2001 Return-Path: Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4CE8017AE3 for ; Fri, 29 Jun 2001 00:37:17 +0100 (BST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id D413017A9D for ; Fri, 29 Jun 2001 00:37:13 +0100 (BST) Received: from niobium.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (niobium [193.62.192.41]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1EAEE17A9E for ; Fri, 29 Jun 2001 00:37:07 +0100 (BST) Received: (from news@localhost) by niobium.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (8.9.3+Sun/8.8.8) id AAA19764 for btk-mca-list@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk; Fri, 29 Jun 2001 00:31:31 +0100 (BST) X-Authentication-Warning: niobium.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk: news set sender to using -f Message-ID: <3B3BBE7E.A0D0B979@biokin.com> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 16:32:14 -0700 From: Petr Kuzmic X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 [en] (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Newsgroups: bionet.metabolic-reg Subject: Re: Enzymes!?! References: <77754d4.0106281433.5c179d8f@posting.google.com> <3B3BC41C.11314.12BC051@localhost> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 59 X-Authenticated-User: pkuzmic X-Comments: This message was posted through Usenet.com X-Comments2: IMPORTANT: Usenet.com does not condone, nor support, spam or any illegal or copyrighted postings. X-Report: Report abuse to "abuse@Usenet.com" X-Abuse-Info: Forward a copy of ALL headers, INCLUDING the body (DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS) Organization: Usenet.com - #1 Newsgroups service on the planet! - http://www.Usenet.com To: btk-mca@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Sender: owner-btk-mca@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Douglas Kell wrote: > Over to experts here I hope. The prize ('how enzymes really work') > is worth it. In a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner, I'd like to posit that "how enzymes *really* work" might be progressively more and more difficult to answer in the future, compared to the difficulty with which partial answers had been obtained so far (e.g., Linus Pauling). This might be true even to the extent that the answer is getting away from us more rapidly than we gather information about particular aspects of enzyme catalysis. One reason for this guarded pessimism of mine is that people's training and research work seems (to me anyway) more and more specialized, whereas the subject matter itself is turning out to be progressively more interdisciplinary. How many times have we seen the following slogan posted on someone's office door or bulletin board: "An expert is the person who knows more and more about less and less, until s/he knows almost everything about almost nothing." Frauenfelder is a ... what: physicist? biochemist? biophysicist? complexity theorist? In a certain way he seems to have escaped a pigeon hole, but how many people managed to do that? We've all got to be Experts, otherwise say good bye to tenure or promotion. However, I have a feeling that Expert knowledge (too focused on particular aspects of biochemical catalysis) might not be sufficient for understanding how enzymes work. Some sort of a "generalist" or "integral" approach might prove more fruitful. - Petr P.S.: If my Usenet provider attaches some sort of silly advertisement to this message, please forgive me. I am in the process of switching. ------------------------------------------------------- P e t r K u z m i c, Ph. D. * BioKin Ltd. 1652 S. Grand Ave. * Suite 337 * Pullman, WA 99163 509.334.4131 * 509.332.3493 fax * http://www.biokin.com .. Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services ---------------------------------------------------------- ** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY ** ---------------------------------------------------------- http://www.usenet.com .