ArticleBiochimica et biophysica acta. Bioenergetics2026
Demand-only energetics at 120 ATP per glucose: A reply to Lynch.
Article in Biochimica et biophysica acta. Bioenergetics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Recently in these pages, a paper by Lynch appeared in response to a report showing that his numbers for biosynthetic costs (ATP demand) in cells are inflated, so much so that they would require E. coli to obtain >100 ATP per glucose and mitochondria to obtain >240 ATP per glucose. The inflated estimates trace to one factor: Lynch exclusively considers ATP demand and systematically neglects ATP supply-the essence of bioenergetics. Thermodynamics stipulate that a cell cannot grow if its ATP demands exceed its ATP supply. Here I compare Lynch's calculated ATP demands to laboratory measurements of the ATP supply that E. coli synthesizes during cell division. The results bear out my case, and leave no doubt: Lynch's calculations require E. coli to synthesize ∼120 ATP per glucose, which is thermodynamically impossible. As a consequence, his demand-only 'energetic' attacks on mitochondria and endosymbiosis in evolution are baseless.
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