  Classical thermodynamics and statistical mechanics describe systems in which
nothing interacts with nothing. Even the highly refined theory of simple fluids
does not deal very well with electrical interactions, boundary conditions, or
flows, if at all. Electrical interactions, boundary conditions, and flows are
essential features of living systems. Life without flow is death and so a
different approach is needed to study biology alive. The theory of complex
fluids deals with interactions, boundary conditions, and flows quite well as
can be seen in its successful treatment of liquid crystals. I advocate treating
ionic solutions in general as complex fluids, with microelements that are the
solutes and components of the solution. Enzyme active sites are a special case
where some solutes are reactants. Solutes are crowded into active sites of
enzyme by the high density of protein charges. The electric field links
chemical reactions to charges in the protein and surrounding solutions.
Interactions potentiate catalysis and control biological function. I suspect
that most chemical reactions that occur in liquids also need to be treated by
the theory of complex fluids. The electron movements of these reactions occur
in a temporary highly concentrated fluctuation, a transient spatial
inhomogeneity in the bulk solution. The electron movements of these reactions
(described by quantum mechanics) are coupled to the electric (and sometimes
steric) fields of the bulk solution. I suspect the electron movements,
inhomogeneities, and chemical reaction (in the condensed phase) need to be
treated by the theory of complex fluids because everything interacts with
everything else, in this system, as in so many others.
