Tunnelling of electrons in biological processes

A new mechanism of energy conversion in biological systems (particularly for phosphorylation on intracellular membranes) is proposed. This mechanism involves electron tunnelling accompanied by relaxation type conformational changes in enzyme macromolecules. The membrane potential may be considered as a regulator of this process. Electron tunnelling is the most important mechanism of electron transfer between electron carriers in electron transport chains of chloroplasts and mitochondria. The requirements of energy balance are met due to excitation or changing of the normal vibrations of carriers or molecules in the medium.