8/13/2019 Voeikov Abstract WC2008

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Water -- the Base of the Living State and Vital FunctionsV.L. Voeikov

Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.The dominant substance in all the organisms is water. Some hydrobionts where it represents

more then 99% by their mass may be considered living water. owever! to elicit most basic properties o" this water making it so special one needs to de"ine what a living state is.

#ore than $ years ago &ussian' ungarian biologist (rvin )auer "ormulated the"undamental principle o" Stable *on'(+uilibrium to di""erentiate between animate and inanimatesystems, All and only living systems are never at equili rium. At t!e e"#ense of t!eir free energythey ceaselessly perform work against equilibrium , demanded y t!e #!ysical and c!emical lawsa##ro#riate to t!e actual e"ternal conditions$ . Stable non'e+uilibrium -e cited/ state o" matter isdisplayed at all the levels o" a living system organi0ation! including the molecular one. 1nasmuch asthe structure o" matter in an e cited state di""ers "rom structure o" the same matter in the e+uilibrium-ground/ state )auer de"ined "ree energy o" (231T(4 structural elements o" the living system-living matter/ as structural energy. 5rowth and development o" a living system goes on due toassimilation o" "ood 6 conversion o" its potential energy into structural energy o" living matter andtrans"ormation o" the consumed matter into a non'e+uilibrium state characteristic o" living matter.7ll "orms o" work including assimilation o" "ood as are per"ormed by a living system at the e penseo" structural energy o" living matter. To retard spontaneous rela ation o" e cited state o" workablestructural elements they should be so interdependent! that a living system may be considered amultilevel coherent system. 7ll vital "unctions, metabolism and assimilation! multiplication!adaptability! e citability and even evolution may be derived "rom this principle.

owever! )auer8s theory o" a living state does not consider how it could primordiallyemerge. )esides no conclusive answer is given to the +uestion o" what particular substance maystably reside in a non'e+uilibrium state and return back to it when it releases structural energy "orthe per"ormance o" use"ul work providing "or the continuity o" living matter.

e8ll reason here that uni+ue properties o" inter"acial water -(:'water a"ter 5. ;ollack/ "ullymeet all the re+uirements o" the ;rinciple o" Stable *on'(+uilibrium. #ost important property o"(:'water is its electron'donating capacity due to much higher state o" e citation o" electrons in it incomparison to bulk water. The natural electron acceptor always present in water is o ygen. 1"energy o" activation even in a "orm o" a triggering stimulus is available (:'water may donateelectrons to o ygen! and the overall reaction o" "ull o ygen reduction may proceed,

2H 2O < %& O 2 < 2H 2% < n=h> -(nergy/Though the molecular species at the le"t and right sites o" this e+uation are the same -water

and o ygen/ up to ? eV o" energy may be donated by this reaction. 1t is structural energy -in )auer8ssense/ o" (:'water residing in the stable non'e+uilibrium state that is released when two watermolecules belonging to it -le"t side o" the e+uation/ convert into the ground state water molecules-right side o" the e+uation/.

;art o" this energy may be used "or the restoration o" (:'water. 1" 3@ A and * A are present inwater some part o" energy may be used "or their e citation and chains o" chemical reactions in thecourse o" which comple organic molecules are produced may be initiated. *ew sur"aces turningwater into (:'water appear and the overall stock o" structural energy o" such a+ueous systemincreases. Thus its ability to per"orm work against e+uilibrium enhances.

The necessary condition "or this scenario to reali0e is availability o" su""icient energy to keepenough water in a li+uid state in which (:'water -or coherent domains according to (. 4el 5iudice/and ground state water coe ists. This is the necessary condition "or spontaneous emergence andsustainability o" living systems in all the "orms known to us.

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