ArticleJournal of the history of biology2016
The Heuristic of Form: Mitochondrial Morphology and the Explanation of Oxidative Phosphorylation.
Article in Journal of the history of biology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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7 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characterising complex metabolic responses in an engineered, cross-feeding microbial co-culture using quantitative proteomics.New biotechnology · 2026Article
- The importance of spatial structure in biology.European journal for philosophy of science · 2026Article
- Exploration of genes encoding KEGG pathway enzymes in rhizospheric microbiome of the wild plant Abutilon fruticosum.AMB Express · 2024Article
- Oxidative phosphorylation in HIV-1 infection: impacts on cellular metabolism and immune function.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Mitochondrial Cristae Morphology Reflecting Metabolism, Superoxide Formation, Redox Homeostasis, and Pathology.Antioxidants & redox signaling · 2023Review
- The molecular vista: current perspectives on molecules and life in the twentieth century.History and philosophy of the life sciences · 2021Article
- Blobel and Sabatini's "Beautiful Idea": Visual Representations of the Conception and Refinement of the Signal Hypothesis.Journal of the history of biology · 2017Article
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1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
In the 1950s and 1960s, the search for the mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation by biochemists paralleled the description of mitochondrial form by George Palade and Fritiof Sjöstrand using electron microscopy. This paper explores the extent to which biochemists studying oxidative phosphorylation took mitochondrial form into account in the formulation of hypotheses, design of experiments, and interpretation of results. By examining experimental approaches employed by the biochemists studying oxidative phosphorylation, and their interactions with Palade, I suggest that use of mitochondrial form as a guide to experimentation and interpretation varied considerably among investigators. Most notably, Peter Mitchell, whose chemiosmotic hypothesis was ultimately the basis of the correct mechanism of oxidative phosphorylation, incorporated crucial aspects of mitochondrial form into his model that others failed to recognize. I discuss these historical observations in terms of the background and training of the biochemists, as well as a proposed heuristic of form, whose use may increase the possibility that biologically meaningful molecular mechanisms will be discovered.
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