General Assessment

Abstract

The instrinsic properties of all coloured molecules (chapter 2) show that they are ideal for exciting reactions of the type characteristic of biochemical systems and there is a strong α priori case that in general biochromes must play a significant role in physiology. This is reinforced by a study of the specific properties of the individual classes of chrome that have been exploited by living organisms (chapter 3) and by the formation of chromoproteins and other conjugates. The relatively small number of main chemical classes of biochrome indicates that selection has favoured only those with optimal properties for the various biological purposes.