ATP
ATP represents the universal energy currency that powers all cellular activity.
Every organism on Earth - from bacteria to blue whales - runs on the same energy currency: ATP. Adenosine triphosphate. It's a molecule so fundamental, so universally necessary, that it evolved once, billions of years ago, and nothing has replaced it since.
Here's how it works. An ATP molecule is like a charged battery. It has three phosphate groups attached to an adenosine base. When a cell needs energy, it breaks the bond between the second and third phosphate groups, releasing energy and converting ATP into ADP (adenosine diphosphate). That energy powers everything: muscle contractions, protein synthesis, nerve signals, membrane pumps, cell division.
Then, the cell uses energy from food to reattach that third phosphate, converting ADP back into ATP. The cycle repeats billions of times per second across trillions of cells.
The numbers are staggering. Your body contains only about 100 grams of ATP at any given moment. But you recycle it so fast that you effectively produce and consume roughly 2-3 times your body weight in ATP every single day - approximately 160-200 kilograms for an average person.
Business Application of ATP
ATP represents the universal energy currency that powers all cellular activity. In business terms, this is analogous to cash flow - the fundamental resource that enables all organizational activity, constantly cycled and recycled through operations.