Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the study of the structure,

composition, and chemical reactions of
substances in living systems

 Biochemistry is applied to medicine, dentistry,

and veterinary medicine. In food science,
biochemists research ways to develop abundant
and inexpensive sources of nutritious foods,
determine the chemical composition of foods,
develop methods to extract nutrients from
waste products, or invent ways to prolong the
shelf life food products. In agriculture,
biochemists study the interaction of herbicides
with plants

What is Biochemistry ?

Biochemistry is the application of chemistry to the

study of biological processes at the cellular and
molecular level.

It emerged as a distinct discipline around the

beginning of the 20th century when scientists
combined chemistry, physiology and biology to
investigate the chemistry of living systems by:
A.

Studying the structure and behavior of the complex

molecules found in biological material and

B.

the ways these molecules interact to form cells, tissues and

whole organism
4

Principles of Biochemistry

Cells (basic structural units of living organisms) are highly

organized and constant source of energy is required to maintain
the ordered state.

Living processes contain thousands of chemical pathways.

Precise regulation and integration of these pathways are
required to maintain life

Certain important pathways e.g. Glycolysis is found in almost all

organisms.

All organisms use the same type of molecules: carbohydrates,

proteins, lipids & nucleic acids.

Instructions for growth, reproduction and developments for

each organism is encoded in their DNA
5

Cells
Basic building blocks of life
Smallest living unit of an organism
Grow, reproduce, use energy, adapt, respond to their environment
Many cannot be seen with the naked eye
A cell may be an entire organism or it may be one of billions of
cells that make up the organism
Basis Types of Cells

Molecular Organisation of a cell

Water
About 60-90 percent
of an organism is water

Water is used in
most reactions in
the body
Water is called
the universal
solvent
8

II. Water Chemistry

A. ________
Water is the most abundant
chemical in the body.
B. Water has many characteristics
that make it vital to our bodies.
1. _____water
is a very small
Size
molecule, so it moves fast and can
squeeze into tiny crevasses between
other molecules.

II. Water Chemistry

B. Water has many
characteristics that make
it vital to our bodies.
2. Polarity
_________--Hydrogen
has a slightly positive
charge while oxygen
has a slightly negative
charge. This makes it
easy for water to pry
apart other charged
molecules, dissolving
Universal
them.
CalledSolvent
a

II. Water Chemistry

B. Water has many characteristics
that make it vital to our bodies.
3. _______________--Due
to polarity, water
Crystal
forms
a crystal structure that is less
structure
dense than liquid water.

II. Water Chemistry

B. Water has many characteristics
that make it vital to our bodies.
4. _____________--water
absorbs and
Heat
releases
heat energy slowly, and can
capacity

hold a great deal of heat energy. This

helps organisms maintain their body
temperature in the safe range.

II. Water Chemistry

B. Water has many
characteristics that make
it vital to our bodies.
5. __________________-Cohesion &
Polarity
allows water to
Adhesion
stick to itself (cohesion)
and to any charged
material (adhesion).
Water can glue materials
together.

II. Water Chemistry

B. Water has many
characteristics that
make it vital to our
bodies.
Buffer
6. _______--Water can
act as either an acid
or a base, maintaining
a stable pH in our
bodies.

III. Macromolecules
A. What are they?
1. __________________________________
Very large molecules that
make most of the structure of
_______________________________________
the body
2. Made
of smaller piecesmonomer
called
s
__________ that can be assembled
like
legos to form a variety of structures. A
polymer
large
chain of monomers is called a
_________.

III. Macromolecules
B. Carbohydrates
1. Monomer: ____________________
monosaccharide
(sugar)
2. Polymer: _____________________
polysaccharide
rings of carbon
3. Structure:______________________
(starch)
oxygen and hydrogen
attached;
with
________________________________
CHUses:
energy, plant
4.
2O
___________________
structure
5. Examples:
________________
sucrose, cellullose

Examples of Carbohydrates

III. Macromolecules
C. Lipids
1. Monomer: __________
fatty acid
lipid or fat
2. Polymer: ___________
3 long chains of
3. Structure:______________________
________________________________
hydrogen oncarbon
a glycerol
molecule
4.
Uses: ________________________
energy, structure,
5. Examples:
____________________
fat, oil,
warmth

cholesterol

Examples of Lipids

III. Macromolecules
D. Protein
1. Monomer: _______________
amino acid
protein
(20) or
2. Polymer: _____________________
polypeptide
central carbon atom
3. Structure:______________________
with carboxyl, & R
________________________________
hydrogen, amine,
4.
groups
Uses: ________________________
structure, emergency
skin, insulin,
5. Examples:
energy
____________________

enzymes

Examples of Proteins

III. Macromolecules
E. Nucleic Acids
1. Monomer: _______________
nucleotide (5)
nucleic acid
2. Polymer: ___________

5-carbon sugar
3. Structure:______________________
attached
to nitrogen base
and phosphate
________________________________
group
4.
Uses: ___________________
stores genetic code
DNA and RNA
5. Examples: _______________

Examples of Nucleic Acids

IV. ATP
A. ATP stands for adenosine
_____________________
triphosphate
B. Cells use ATP as
arechargeable
__________________
3___ phosphates
battery
C. Made of adenine with
D. Lots of energy is stored in the bond
the second and third
between _____________________________
E. When phosphates
this bond is broken,
tremendous energy is released.
F. The pieces are then reassembled,
storing more energy for another use.

Examples of ATP

V. Enzymes
A. Special proteins
that speed chemical
reactions
1. Chemical reactions
activation
require a energy
certain
_______________ to get
started.
2. Enzymes decrease
this energy, making
reactions occur faster.

V. Enzymes
B. Lock-and-Key Model
1. Enzymes are not used up by the
reaction, but each can only work on one
enzyme
reaction
(________________).
2.specificity
This is called the lock-and-key model
kelike a _____
of enzymes. An enzyme is
which can openlock
exactly one
y _____. If you
want to unlock another reaction, you
need a different enzyme.

V. Enzymes

V. Enzymes
C. Factors which affect enzymes
1.Temperatur
_____________--enzymes, like all
proteins,
change shape when exposed
e

to heat or cold. Each has an optimal

temperature
range.
pH
2. ____--all enzymes have an optimal
Concentrati
range
of pH. Example: stomach
3. on
_____________--having more enzymes
makes the reaction faster.

Images used in this

presentation were obtained
from:
Atom: PowerPoint clipart
Water molecule and Water attraction:
stainsfile.info/StainsFile/jindex.html
Bohr water molecule: ghs.gresham.k12.or.us
Spoon on nose: statweb.calpoly.edu
pH scale: bcn.boulder.co.us
Glucose and Cellulose:
www.greenspirit.org.uk
Sucrose: encarta.msn.com