Book Description

In this book we discuss the status of the structure- function analysis of biological macromolecules and macromolecular complexes. The ultimate goal of the analysis must be to explain all the functional properties of the molecules in question in terms of their completely defined three-dimensional structure, and the analysis thus contains three separate components: the determination of structure, the determination and quantitation of function, and final correlation of this information into the structure-function model. The first component, the structural analysis, is reviewed only briefly, and this book therefore leans heavily on Barker's and Van Holde's books in this series for proper background and documentation for this component. The second component, the analysis of functional properties, is given broader consideration (Chapters I, 2, 5, and 9), but the main emphasis has been the step-by-step development of the structure-function models. It is hoped that this approach will clearly illustrate the typical progression of scientific model building from the first clear definition of the problem and the statement of the hypothesis through ever-increasing refinements of experimental tests toward the final answer. It is also hoped that the statements of philosophy, principles, and scientific method that are the bases for this approach are of broad enough validity to survive even after its models have become obsolete. With this approach, it is essential to inform the reader in unequivocal terms that this book is not a summary of final conclusions and complete stories which can be submitted to memory. Each system discussed should be considered very critically, and the models should be evaluated in terms of the available evidence. The only "facts" are the experimental data; the interpretation of this data into models is only convincing to the extent that it makes logical sense to the individual examining it. Since both space and common sense prohibits a continuous reiteration of this statement throughout the book, be prepared to encounter some models and hypotheses which are based on sound experimental evidence as well as some which have no experimental basis at all. In neither case are they "facts," but in either case they represent ideas which can be subjected to further experimental tests. If the book helps to sharpen this critical evaluation of both ideas and the experimental test of the hypotheses, one of its major purposes has been fulfilled.