austin journal of bioorganic & organic chemistry
TRANSCRIPT
Biochemistry is a branch of science concerned with chemical and physio-chemical processes and substances which occur within living organisms
About 60-90 percent of an organism is water
Water is used in most reactions in the body
Water is called the universal solvent
Polarity
Cohesiveness
Adhesiveness
Surface Tension
Although a cell is mostly water, the rest of the cell consists mostly of carbon-based molecules
Organic chemistry is the study of carbon compounds
Each type of organic molecule has a unique three-dimensional shape
The shape determines its function in an organism
Large molecules are called polymers
Polymers are built from smaller molecules called monomers
Biologists call them macromolecules
Proteins
Lipids
Carbohydrates
Nucleic Acids
There are four categories of large molecules in cells:
Carbohydrates
Lipids
Proteins
Nucleic Acids
Carbohydrates include:
Small sugar molecules in soft drinks
Long starch molecules in pasta and potatoes
Lipids are hydrophobic –”water fearing”
Includes fats, waxes, steroids, & oils
FAT MOLECULE
Fats store energy, which helps to insulate thebody, and cushion and protect organs
Proteins are polymers made of monomerscalled amino acids
All proteins are made of 20 different amino acidslinked in different orders
Proteins are used to build cells, act as hormones& enzymes, and do much of the work in a cell
Stores hereditary information
Contain information for making all the body’s proteins
There are two types of nucleic acids DNA RNA
Nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides
Phosphate
BaseSugar
Nucleotide
Sugar(deoxyribose)
Phosphategroup
Thymine (T)
Nitrogenous base(A,G,C, or T)
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