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Question
Why do we use ATP for restoring energy but not another molecule?
ATP (Adenosine TriPhosphate) is the common currency of the cell. We use the energy available in food to "make" ATP that we "spend" on the many processes necessary to sustain life. If we used molecules other than ATP we could not efficiently coordinate the making and spending of energy. This concept is similar to having different currencies in Europe all converted to using the same currency, the Euro. Other molecules could potentially substitute for ATP but evolution favored ATP because it was the most efficient way to couple the making and spending processes of the cell. In fact, some ancient microbes utilize pyrophosphate in place of ATP for some processes. This may be a vestige from earlier life that was experimenting with various molecules to use as the common currency of the cell. Prof. J. Greg Ferry (Penn State Astrobiology Research Center)
February 15, 2002
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