ATP Synthase the Motor of Life by Nasif Nahle

When we talk about the macroscopic world, we define the term structure from an anatomical, histological and morphological viewpoint. However, we often ignore the fact that we have to make a qualitative jump in the progression from macrophysical systems to microphysical systems. When we investigate the system as a whole, we must not limit our knowledge simply to macrophysical parameters which can be measured, as length, distance, volume, etc., but to effective parameters which are further related with electric charges, electromagnetic fields, quantum energy and electrodynamic phenomena. We set in motion a picture of a macrophysical system, i.e. a plant. We can describe its height, its volume, its weight, the quantity of leaves it has, its color, etc.; however, as we move our observations towards smaller and smaller portions of the macroscopic structure, we arrive at a point at which the macrophysical qualities leap into another realm where the parameters with which we previously classified the living organism no longer have any utility. Of course, the transition is so subtle that many of us succumb to the idea that there is no more physical explanation to describe life. If we understand that there is no boundary, but rather a continuum which links every process in every living system with the Universe, we will not be so easily fooled by the illusion of a separation between the macrophysical world and the microphysical world.