Architect of Chemiosmosis
A biochemist who placed a membrane at the centre of the energy story. A difference across a boundary became the means by which respiration could power ATP synthesis.
Architect of Chemiosmosis
Mitchell proposed that electron transfer could drive the movement of protons across a membrane. Their electrochemical gradient could then provide the energy for ATP synthesis. The membrane became an active part of the mechanism.
At Glynn, Mitchell and Jennifer Moyle built a research programme around chemiosmotic coupling. Their collaboration belongs at the centre of this story, including the experiments that put the proposal under pressure.
The Nobel Prize recognised Mitchell’s contribution to understanding biological energy transfer. Chemiosmosis became a foundation of modern bioenergetics.
This is also a useful point of comparison with Gilbert Ling: their accounts of cellular organisation should be read in their own terms, with their differing experimental support.
Fritz LipmannATP and the transfer of chemical energy
Gilbert LingA different account of cellular organisation
Hans KrebsThe oxidation pathways behind the energy story
