Carbohydrates Introduction Alllivingthingsarelargelymadeupofwaterandfourtypesoforganic macromolecules.Organicmoleculesaremoleculesthatcontainalargeamountofcarbon. Thesemoleculesaresoimportantthereisentirefieldofsciencedevotedtostudyingthem organicchemistry. WhyCarbon? Carboncanformthebackboneofsomanydifferent moleculesbecauseithasfourvalenceelectrons,andtherefore wantstoformuptofourchemicalbonds.Carboncanshareits electronswithothercarbonatomsorwithavarietyofother elements.Itcanformsingle,double,oreventriplebonds,andcan bondinlongchainsorinrings.Thisversatilityallowscarbonto providethemainstructureofsomanymolecules.

Carbohydrates Thefirstclassofmoleculesarecalledcarbohydrates. Carbohydratesincludesugarsandstarches.Thesimplesttypeofthese, monosaccharide(simplesugars),haveabasicformula:forevery carbonatom,thereareabouttwohydrogensandoneoxygen,orone waterforeachcarbon.Carbohydrate.Forexample,glucoseisa commoncarbohydratethatwillshowupagainandagainaswediscuss cellchemistry.ThechemicalformulaforglucoseC6H12O6.Table sugar,sucrose,istwosinglesugarsboundtogether:adisaccharide (twosimplesugars).ThechemicalformulaforsucroseisC12H22O11. Sugarscanbeanythingfromasinglesugarmoleculeuptoseveral boundtogether.Simplesugarsareusedasafastsourceofenergyin cellsandhelppowerthechemicalreactionsoflife. Sugarscanbeboundtogetherinlongchains,whichmayformbranchesandevennetworks. Thesehugecarbohydratesarecalledstarches.Starchescanalsobeusedtostoreenergyincells.For example,hundredsofglucosemoleculescanbeconnectedtoformglycogenmoleculesinanimalcells. Thisglycogencansitinyourmusclecellsuntilyouneedenergy,andthencanbebrokendownrelatively quickly.Plantsstoresugarsintheformofstarchinordertohaveenoughenergytomakeitthroughthe winter Otherlarge,stiffcarbohydratesareusedforstructureincells.Forexample,thecarbohydrate cellulosemakesupthecellwallofplantcells.Whenyoulooktreetrunk,youareseeingalotofcellulose allatonce.Thecarbohydrateschitinmakesuptheexoskeletonsofsomeanimals,likeinsectsand crabs,aswellasthecellwallsoffungi.

Lipids Introduction Alllivingthingsarelargelymadeupofwaterandfourtypesoforganicmacromolecules.Organic moleculesaremoleculesthatcontainalargeamountofcarbon.Thesemoleculesaresoimportantthere isentirefieldofsciencedevotedtostudyingthemorganicchemistry. WhyCarbon? Carboncanformthebackboneofsomanydifferent moleculesbecauseithasfourvalenceelectrons,andtherefore wantstoformuptofourchemicalbonds.Carboncanshareits electronswithothercarbonatomsorwithavarietyofother elements.Itcanformsingle,double,oreventriplebonds,andcan bondinlongchainsorinrings.Thisversatilityallowscarbonto providethemainstructureofsomanymolecules. Lipids Avarietyofmolecules,suchasfats,oils,andwaxes,are calledlipids.Whatallthesemoleculeshaveincommonisthat theyarenonpolarandhydrophobic(waterfearing).These meansthattheydonotdissolveinwater.Thesemoleculesare mostlymadeupofcarbonandhydrogen,andasmallamountof oxygen. Fatsaresomeofthemostcommonlipids.Thesehaveafairly simplestructure,startingwiththe3carbonglycerolmolecule.Each carbonpicksupabitcalledafattyacid,whichcanbeshortorfairly long.Thesefattyacidchainsareeithersaturatedorunsaturated.A saturatedfattyacidhasonlysinglebondsbetweenallthecarbons,and thereforehasaveryregularstructureasshownbelow.Thisregular structureallowssaturatedfattyacidstosticktoeachothereasily. Becausetheystacktogether,saturatedfatstendtobesolidatroom temperature(suchasbutter),andarealsoworseforyourhealth.These saturatedfatscansticktogetherinyourarteries,formingclumpsor clogs. Unsaturatedfattyacidshaveatleastonedoublebondbetween thecarbonatoms.Thesedoublebondscreatekinks(bends)inthe chain,asshowninthepicturetotheright.Thesekinksmakeitharder forthesemoleculestosticktogether.Unsaturatedfatstendtobeliquid atroomtemperature(suchasoils) andarehealthierto consumebecausetheydontclogyourarteries. Lipidshaveanumberofimportantfunctionsinlivingthings. Theyareusefulaswaterbarriers,andtheyarefoundincell membranesaswellassuchthingsaswaxesandwaterproofingoils. Notmixingwithwateralsomakeslipidsanice,nonreactiveplaceto storeextraenergy,sofatsareoftenusedforlongtermenergystorage.Whenenergyisreallyneeded, thefatmoleculesarebrokenapartandusedforenergy.Lipidsarealsousedforinsulationinorganisms thatneedtoholdontoheat,andhelpprovidecushioningtoourmajororgans.

Proteins Introduction Alllivingthingsarelargelymadeupofwaterandfourtypesoforganicmacromolecules.Organic moleculesaremoleculesthatcontainalargeamountofcarbon.Thesemoleculesaresoimportantthere isentirefieldofsciencedevotedtostudyingthemorganicchemistry. WhyCarbon? Carboncanformthebackboneofsomanydifferentmolecules becauseithasfourvalenceelectrons,andthereforewantstoformup tofourchemicalbonds.Carboncanshareitselectronswithother carbonatomsorwithavarietyofotherelements.Itcanformsingle, double,oreventriplebonds,andcanbondinlongchainsorinrings. Thisversatilityallowscarbontoprovidethemainstructureofsomany molecules. Proteins Proteinsarelongchainsofcomponentscalledaminoacids.Aminoacidscontaincarbon,hydrogen, oxygen,aswellasnitrogen.Someaminoacidsalsocontainsulfur.Therearearoundtwentyamino acids,butthesepiecescanbehookedtogetherinmillionsofdifferentwaysforformaHUGEvarietyof proteinmolecules.Proteinmoleculeshaveverycomplexstructuresandawidevarietyoffunctionsin livingthings.Herearesomeofthemostimportant: Structure.Mostcellshaveparticularshapes,andthoseshapesarecommonlyheldtogetherby proteins.Proteinisanimportantcomponenttostructureinfungi,inanimalsinexoskeletons,andin thingsliketendons,ligaments,andcartilage.Forexample,theproteincollagenisanimportantpartof thestructureofyourskinandbloodvessels. Movement.Asinglecellmoves,orswims,usingaproteinbasedmovementsystem.Animalmuscle dependsupontwoproteins,actinandmyosin,contractingcells.Cellmembraneshaveproteinsthat helpmovethingsintothecell. Communication.Cellsoftensendsignalstoeachotherusingvarioustypesofproteins.Many hormonesareproteins,aswellaspheromones(signalsbyscent).Proteinneurotransmitterscarry signalsbetweennervecells.Antibodiesareproteinsmadespecificallytoattachto"foreign"molecules (likevirusesandbacteria)andactivateyourimmunesystem. Chemistry.Thereactionsthathappenincellsoftenneedaboosttogetgoing,andthatboostis suppliedbyenzymes,mostofwhichareproteins.Enzymesarecatalysts,chemicalsthatactivateand speedupreactions.Almosteverybitofchemistrydoneincellsisaidedbyenzymes. Thecomplexstructureofproteinscanbemessedupiftemperaturesgettoohotortoocold,orifthepH becomestooacidicortooalkaline(aprocesscalleddenaturing).Mostlivingthings,includinghumans, havetokeeptheirtemperatureandpHfairlystablesothattheirproteinscancontinuetowork.

NucleicAcids Introduction Alllivingthingsarelargelymadeupofwaterandfourtypesoforganicmacromolecules.Organic moleculesaremoleculesthatcontainalargeamountofcarbon.Thesemoleculesaresoimportantthere isentirefieldofsciencedevotedtostudyingthemorganicchemistry. WhyCarbon? Carboncanformthebackboneofsomanydifferentmolecules becauseithasfourvalenceelectrons,andthereforewantstoformup tofourchemicalbonds.Carboncanshareitselectronswithother carbonatomsorwithavarietyofotherelements.Itcanformsingle, double,oreventriplebonds,andcanbondinlongchainsorinrings. Thisversatilityallowscarbontoprovidethemainstructureofsomany molecules. NucleicAcids Thelastclassoforganicmoleculesarethenucleicacids.Therearetwovarieties:ribonucleic acid,orRNA,anddeoxyribonucleicacid,orDNA.Thesemoleculescontaincarbon,hydrogen,oxygen, nitrogen,andphosphorous.Nucleicacidsgottheirnamebecausetheywerefirstdiscoveredinthe nucleusofcells.

DNAcarrieshereditaryinformation.Hereditaryinformationisinformationthatispassedfrom parentstotheiroffspring.Inhumans,weinherithalfourDNAfromourmotherseggcellandhalfourDNA fromourfathersspermcell.ThemostimportantpartoftheDNAinacellisgenes,whicharepiecesof DNAthatcodeforproteinmolecules.DNAisthecodefromwhichlivingthingsaremade,sincetheDNA codesforproteinsandtheproteinsarethefoundationofcellularchemistry. Theothernucleicacidform,RNA,isusedinturningtheDNAcodeintoproteins.RNAisacritical componentofthecellpartsthattakestheDNAcodesandmaketheproteins.SmallRNAmoleculesdo allsortsofthingsinandaroundthegenes