Letters to the Editor

Abstract

To the Readers of ABT:In July 2022, the scientific community will celebrate the 200th birthday of Gregor Mendel, the founder of genetics. This journal will kick off the year in January with a special issue devoted to the illustrious abbot and the field he created, but high school biology students can reflect now on Mendel’s legacy by participating in the annual DNA Day essay contest, sponsored by the American Society of Human Genetics. You can find the question at https://www.ashg.org/dna-day/. The deadline for essays is in early March 2022, with winners announced the following month.John J. Mulvihill, University of Oklahoma School of MedicineJoseph D. McInerney, NABT president 1991I would like to bring to your attention a problem in the article “Connecting Ideas across Courses: Relating Energy, Bonds & How ATP Hydrolysis Powers a Molecular Motor” (May 2021). The article contains a sentence in which students are asked to recall information about the role of energy in bond breaking and forming -- especially that energy is required to break covalent bonds and that energy is released when bonds are formed – as well as to describe what they know about how ATP is used to support cellular functions. This sentence and the chart on the next page are in direct opposition to what really happens when bonds are formed and broken. What really occurs is that energy is stored in the bonds that form in molecules such as Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) acting like money in the bank. This energy can be used later and is released when bonds are broken, typically in mitochondria.