Glycolysis in Wonderland: The Importance of Energy Dissipation in Metabolic Pathways

Staying alive is an energetically expensive task. Therefore, the necessity of coupling the exergonic nutrient transformation reactions to the endergonic synthesis of ATP is easily grasped by most undergraduate students. On the other hand, it is often difficult for students to understand the importance of energy dissipation. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that energy dissipation fulfils an important role in metabolism, driving the flow of matter throughout the metabolic pathways, avoiding, in this way, the chemical equilibrium which in biology is a synonym of death. In this paper we propose a teaching approach where a blending of science and science fiction will lead us to the desired conclusions.