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    The vast and amazing field of Bioenergetics is essentially the study of energy flow through living systems. This is one biological area which is witness to constant churning out of numerous researches and studies on a variety of cellular processes, like cellular respiration, as well as other metabolic processes. These processes, in turn, are responsible for the production and utilization of different forms of energy (for example, ATP molecules). Let us have a detailed look at what all exactly lies under the purview of bioenergetics.

    Biological organisms, be it plants, animals, or micro organisms, thrive on growth, development, and metabolism. These biological processes require energy of different forms playing a prominent role. It is a fundamental property of living organisms to derive energy from different sources in order to perform these processes as efficiently as possible. Life, in terms of bioenergetics, is all about transformation, and in other words, conservation of energy. This transformation of energy is responsible for the survival of living organisms. Chemical reactions take place inside living organisms as a result of which energy transformations occur. When the weak chemical bonds are broken and stronger bonds are made, energy becomes available for various mechanical works as well as for other internal processes.

    There are essentially two types of chemical reactions that take place inside biological organisms. Exergonic reaction is a spontaneous one that releases energy. Energy needs to be fuelled while the reaction happens, during which the reactants go from a stable state to highly energetic unstable configuration. Complex molecules constitute these reactants which are ultimately broken into simpler constituents. Endergonic reaction is an anabolic one which consumes energy, as opposed to the previous category. Breaking chemical bonds in this type of chemical reactions demands positive supply of energy.

    Energy is obtained by living organisms from inorganic as well as organic materials. Plants perform this process via photosynthesis, while herbivorous, omnivorous, and carnivorous animals have their own individual, idiosyncratic ways to obtain energy from what they consume. Heterotrophs, as they are can be classified, obtain energy from organic compounds. The food which they consume consists of nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, fat, and vitamins. Although a heterotroph consumes quite a chunk of food containing these nutrients, not 100% of it would be utilized in creating energy. A part of this would be consumed in processes such as digestion of the food and their metabolism. These materials get combined with oxygen to release energy. However, there is an alternative way with which anaerobic micro organisms play the role of oxygen. The molecules of oxygen get combined with those of the nutrients consisting the food items and, as a result, different compounds are formed which release energy. The utilization of the nutrients constituting the organic materials is an example of slow combustion.

    Bioenergetics is all about delving deeply into this particular area of science, which deals with how living organisms derive energy, how particular energy packets get converted from one form to another in a way that it is useful. A significant effort is also made towards researches to explore hitherto unexplored chapters in the subject.