Skip to main content

Mechanisms of Ion Transport and ATP Formation

  • Chapter
Concepts and Models

Part of the book series: Membrane Transport in Biology ((MEMBRANE,volume 1))

  • 134 Accesses

Abstract

Among the many bewildering tasks which the first cell had to face in life were the retention of wanted ions such as K+ and the exclusion of unwanted ions such as Na+ and Ca++. Since the aqueous environment of this planet has an abundance of unwanted and a limited supply of wanted ions, the cell was forced to open up an import-export business of major proportions.

To stay alive, you have to be able to hold out against equilibrium, maintain imbalance, bank against entropy, and you can only transact this business with membranes in our kind of world. Lewis Thomas

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1978 Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Racker, E. (1978). Mechanisms of Ion Transport and ATP Formation. In: Tosteson, D.C. (eds) Concepts and Models. Membrane Transport in Biology, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-46370-9_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-46370-9_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-46372-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-46370-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics