Glycolysis
The metabolic pathway that breaks down glucose into pyruvate, producing a small amount of ATP quickly. Occurs in the cytoplasm without requiring oxygen.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 3 chapters:
"...our body weight in ATP every single day - approximately 160-200 kilograms for an average person. Your cells make ATP through three main pathways: Glycolysis happens in the cytoplasm. It breaks glucose into pyruvate, producing a small amount of ATP quickly."
"...rved across yeast, worms, flies, mice, humans) that activate when NAD⁺ levels rise. During normal feeding, NAD⁺ gets consumed in glucose metabolism - glycolysis, Krebs cycle, the machinery of turning food into energy. NAD⁺ levels stay moderate. Sirtuins work at baseline efficiency. During caloric restriction..."
"...plexity is organized into modular pathways: sequences of reactions that convert starting substrates into end products through defined intermediates. Glycolysis exemplifies metabolic modularity. This pathway converts glucose (a six-carbon sugar) into two molecules of pyruvate (a three-carbon compound), extrac..."
Biological Context
Glycolysis is fast but inefficient—yielding only 2 ATP per glucose molecule compared to 36-38 from complete aerobic respiration. It's the 'sprint metabolism' used when energy is needed immediately. Cancer cells often rely heavily on glycolysis even when oxygen is available (Warburg effect).
Business Application
Glycolysis-mode business: fast, inefficient cash burn for rapid growth—using capital as a sprint fuel rather than sustainable revenue. Works for short bursts but unsustainable long-term. Many startups operate in glycolysis mode, burning through funding for speed.