Question

Comment on the statement “living state is a non-equilibrium steady state to be able to perform work”.

Answer 1

Non-equilibrium steady state of living beings:

• The state of non-equilibrium ensures that the biological system is always in a working mode.
• Work is done with the use of energy obtained from the metabolism of glucose and fats.
• Biological system is working to keep the organism in a steady state. Steady-state can be explained with a reaction. In the reaction the concentration of B remains constant as the amount of B formed from A is equal to the amount of B converted into C.

A $\to$ B $\to$ C

• Various processes in living beings attempt towards preventing biological systems from falling into equilibrium (death).

Metabolism maintains steady state:

• Metabolism maintains the constant concentrations of different biomolecules in the metabolic pathways.
• Therefore, biomolecules in the living system remain in metabolic flux to maintain a steady state.