Atom motions biological role

The proposal that special dynamical effects play a major role in enzyme catalysis (e.g., Refs. 118,119) has become quite popular in recent years (e.g., Refs. 120-128). However, a significant part of this popularity reflects confusion about the nature of dynamical effects and the requirement from catalytic contributions, which must be related to the reference reaction in solution. Apparently, some workers overlooked the difference between the well-known fact that all chemical and biological processes involve atomic motions and the existence of true dynamical contributions to catalysis. Since this issue has been analyzed in great length in several recent reviews4,40 we consider here only some key points. 

For the electron, the uncertainty in position is far larger than the diameter of the atom, which is about 100 pm. Therefore, the concept of a trajectory—the simultaneous possession of a precise position and momentum—is untenable. However, the degree of uncertainty is completely negligible for all practical purposes in the case of the bacterium. Indeed, the position of the cell can be known to within 0.05 per cent of the diameter of a hydrogen atom. It follows that the uncertainty principle plays no direct role in cell biology. However, it plays a major role in the description of the motion of electrons around nuclei in atoms and molecules and, is we shall see soon, the transfer of electrons between molecules and proteins during metabolism. 

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