Recent Progress in Hormone Research

After a most refreshing discussion of the generation of energy through ATP and the oxidative cycle, the author outlines the methods of quantitating electron donor or electron acceptor molecules. He briefly considers the biological role of electromagnetic coupling and semiconduction in electronic mobility. However, he deals more extensively with charge transfer which "may be one of the most important, frequent, and fundamental biological reactions." A chapter is devoted to methods of detection of charge transfer, differentiation of weak and strong charge transfer, and the possibility of understanding biological phenomena through this mechanism. Three pertinent examples of charge transfer are discussed: quinone-hydroquinone, serotonin-flavinemononucleotide, and ketosteroid(cortisone-) iodine. This application of his theory by means of simple, dramatic experiments is the highlight of the book. Further speculations on the biological importance of charge transfer comprise the final five chapters. Szent-Gyorgyi unfortunately has simplified critical elements of his theory to the point of near meaninglessness. A more detailed discussion of orbital energies, including a definition of the "k"-value and a qualitative derivation should have been included. The description of electron spin resonance, the most important tool in detection of free radicals and charge transfer complexes, is also too brief and vague. The experimental data on the ketosteroid-iodine charge transfer complexes would be more meaningful had Mullikin's "outer" and "inner" complexes been defined. Despite these criticisms this book is certain to be a revelation to researchers in the biological, biochemical, biophysical, and quantum mechanical sciences. For the biologist and biochemist, a new approach to the understanding of life processes through intimate electronic processes, rather than through exchange of atoms, is outlined. To the physicist, a new field of research, promising even greater intellectual challenges and rewards, is presented.