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In the world outside the laboratory, life goes on in a chang ing rather than in a constant environment and organisms must continually accommodate to changes in temperature, light, humidity, nutrition, etc. Since studies of the enzymatic process, in vitro, indicate that, in general, biological catalysis can proceed only over limited ranges of temperature, pH, substrate concentration, etc. , it seems reasonable to assume that biological systems have an ability to maintain a relatively constant internal milieu in the face of drastic external environmental change. This concept, as applied particularly to the mammal, was enun ciated by Bernard (1878) in the latter part of the last century. Cannon (1939) designated the phenomenon as homeostasis stating (cf Potter, 1970) that "in an open system such as our bodies represent, compounded of unstable material and subjected continually to disturbing conditions, constancy is in itself evidence that agencies are acting or are ready to act, to maintain this constancy. " He further proposed that "if a state remains steady, it does so because any tendency towards change is automatically met by increased effectiveness of the factor or factors which resist the change. " Considerable evidence (cf Prosser, 1958) suggests that homeo stasis is a general phenomenon which applies to all living things and at all levels of biological complexity. Survival in the face of environmental stress would seem to depend upon the ability of the organism to respond by appropriate biochemical modulations so as to maintain homeostasis.
E-Book Content
Biochemical Responses to Environmental Stress
Biochemical Responses to Environmental Stress Proceedings of a Symposium sponsored by the Divisions of Water, Air, and Waste Chemistry, Microbial Chemistry and Technology, and Biological Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, held in Chicago, Illinois, September 14-15, 1970.
Edited by I. A.
~ernstein
Professor of Environmental and ., Industrial Health and of Biological Chemistry The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan
Plenum Press· New York-London· 1971
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79-151618 ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-1919-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4684-1917-7 001: 10.1007/978-1-4684-1917-7
© 1971 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1 st edition 1971 A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation 227 West 17th Street, New York, N.Y. 10011 United Kingdom edition published by Plenum Press, London A Division of Plenum Publishing Company, Ltd. Davis House (4th Floor), 8 Scrubs Lane, Harlesden, NW 10 6SE, England All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher
PREFACE
In the world outside the laboratory, life goes on in a changing rather than in a constant environment and organisms must continually accommodate to changes in temperature, light, humidity, nutrition, etc. Since studies of the enzymatic process, in vitro, indicate that, in general, biological catalysis can proceed only over limited ranges of temperature, pH, substrate concentration, etc., it seems reasonable to assume that biological systems have an ability to maintain a relatively constant internal milieu in the face of drastic external environmental change. This concept, as applied particularly to the mammal, was enunciated by Bernard (1878) in the latter part of the last century. Cannon (1939) designated the phenomenon as homeostasis stating (cf Potter, 1970) that "in an open system such as our bodies represent, compounded of unstable material and subjected continually to disturbing conditions, constancy is in itself evidence that agencies are acting or are ready to act, to maintain this constancy." He further proposed that "if a state remains steady, it does so becau