The Evolution of Metabolic Function presents comprehensive discussions on a variety of topics that will interest scientists and students studying the evolution of enzyme activities, the evolution of enzymatic pathways, and the evolution and development of metabolic functions. Laboratory experiments designed to develop new enzyme activities and new metabolic pathways are discussed. The most recent techniques comparing protein and gene structures are used to analyze and discuss the evolution and development of such metabolic functions as the bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system, the mandelate pathway of microorganisms, bacterial alcohol metabolism, and certain microbial amino acid biosynthetic pathways. The book also includes some unique speculations regarding the origin of early Archaean cells and the prebiotic evolution of complex molecules.