Ling Gilbert
Damadian Foundation for Basic and Cancer Research, USA.
Physiol Chem Phys Med NMR. 2007;39(1):1-67.
The concept that the basic unit of all life, the cell, is a membrane-enclosed soup of (free) water, (free) K+ (and native) proteins is called the membrane theory. A careful examination of past records shows that this theory has no author in the true sense of the word. Rather, it grew mostly out of some mistaken ideas made by Theodor Schwann in his Cell Theory. (This is not to deny that there is a membrane theory with an authentic author but this authored membrane theory came later and is much more narrowly focussed and accordingly can at best be regarded as an offshoot of the broader and older membrane theory without an author.) However, there is no ambiguity on the demise of the membrane theory, which occurred more than 60 years ago, when a flood of converging evidence showed that the asymmetrical distribution of K+ and Na+ observed in virtually all living cells is not the result of the presence of a membrane barrier that permits some solutes like water and K+ to move in and out of the cell, while barring--absolutely and permanently--the passage of other solutes like Na+. To keep the membrane theory afloat, submicroscopic pumps were installed across the cell membrane to maintain, for example, the level of Na+ in the cell low and the level of K+ high by the ceaseless pumping activities at the expense of metabolic energy. Forty-five year ago this version of the membrane theory was also experimentally disproved. In spite of all these overwhelming evidence against the membrane-pump theory, it still is being taught as verified truth in all high-school and biology textbooks known to us today. Meanwhile, almost unnoticed, a new unifying theory of the living cell, called the association-induction hypothesis came into being some 40 years ago. Also little noticed was the fact that it has received extensive confirmation worldwide and has shown an ability to provide self-consistent interpretations of most if not all known experimental observations that are contradicting the membrane-pump theory as well as other observations that seem to support the membrane pump theory.
认为所有生命的基本单位——细胞，是由一层膜包裹着的（自由）水、（自由）钾离子和（天然）蛋白质的混合体，这一概念被称为膜理论。仔细查阅过去的记录会发现，从真正意义上讲，这个理论没有作者。相反，它主要源于西奥多·施旺在其细胞学说中提出的一些错误观点。（这并不是要否认存在一个有真正作者的膜理论，但这个有作者的膜理论出现得更晚，且关注范围更窄，因此充其量只能被视为更广泛、更古老的无作者膜理论的一个分支。）然而，膜理论的消亡是明确无疑的，这发生在60多年前，当时大量相互印证的证据表明，在几乎所有活细胞中观察到的钾离子和钠离子的不对称分布，并非是由于存在一层膜屏障，该屏障允许一些溶质如水和钾离子进出细胞，同时绝对且永久地阻止其他溶质如钠离子通过。为了维持膜理论，人们在细胞膜上设置了亚微观的泵，通过不停消耗代谢能量进行泵浦活动，例如使细胞内钠离子水平保持低而钾离子水平保持高。45年前，这个版本的膜理论也被实验证伪了。尽管有所有这些反对膜泵理论的压倒性证据，但在我们今天所知的所有高中和生物学教科书中，它仍被当作已证实的真理来传授。与此同时，几乎无人注意到，大约40年前，一个关于活细胞的新统一理论——关联诱导假说诞生了。同样很少有人注意到的是，它在全球范围内得到了广泛证实，并且能够对大多数（如果不是全部）已知的实验观察结果提供自洽的解释，这些观察结果既与膜泵理论相矛盾，也包括一些似乎支持膜泵理论的观察结果。
