What is biochemistry?
Biochemistry explores chemical processes related to living organisms. It is a laboratory-based science combining biology and chemistry.
Biochemists study the structure, composition, and chemical reactions of substances in living systems and, in turn, their functions and ways to control them. Biochemistry emerged as a separate discipline when scientists combined biology with organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry. They began to study areas such as:
How living things get energy from food
The chemical basis of heredity
What fundamental changes occur in disease
Biochemistry includes the sciences of molecular biology, immunochemistry, and neurochemistry, as well as bioinorganic, bioorganic, and biophysical chemistry.
What do biochemists do?
Biochemists interact with scientists from a wide variety of other disciplines, usually on problems that are a very small piece of a very large and complex system.
Biochemists in industry are interested in specific applications that will lead to marketable products
Biochemists in academia or government labs conduct more basic and less applied research
Where is biochemistry used?
Biochemistry has obvious applications in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. Other applications include:
Food Science
Biochemists determine the chemical composition of foods, research ways to develop abundant and inexpensive sources of nutritious foods, develop methods to extract nutrients from waste products, and/or invent ways to prolong the shelf life of food products.
Agriculture
Biochemists study the interaction of herbicides/insecticides with plants and pests. They examine the structure–activity relationships of compounds, determine their ability to inhibit growth, and evaluate the toxicological effects on surrounding life.
Pharmacology, Physiology, Microbiology, Toxicology, and Clinical Chemistry
Biochemists investigate the mechanisms of drug actions; engage in viral research; conduct research pertaining to organ function; or use chemical concepts, procedures, and techniques to study the diagnosis and therapy of disease and the assessment of health.
It is at first sight difficult to accept the idea that each of the living creatures described in the previous chapter is merely a chemical system. The incredible diversity of living forms, their seemingly purposeful behavior, and their ability to grow and reproduce all seem to set them apart from the world of solids, liquids, and gases that chemistry normally describes. Indeed, until the nineteenth century it was widely accepted that animals contained a Vital Force—an “animus”—that was uniquely responsible for their distinctive properties.
Organic chemistry is a chemistry subdiscipline involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.
4. Lecture 2 MBB1
The Fundamentals!
!
1. Chemistry of Life!
2. The cellular and the acellular world!
3. Functional Anatomy of Cells: Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes!
4. Metabolism!
!
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
5. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• CHEMISTRY!
• the science that deals with the interaction
between atoms and molecules
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
6. LEVELS OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
knowledgeclass.blogspot.com
7. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• THE ATOMS!
• the smallest unit of chemical elements
that are involved in chemical reactions
• consist of nucleus (protons and
neutrons) and electrons moving around
the nucleus
• Atomic Number = number of protons
• Atomic Weight = number of protons
and neutrons
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
chemistry.tutorvista.com
8. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• THE ELEMENTS OF LIFE
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
9. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• THE ATOMS: Electronic Configurations!
• in an atom, electrons are arranged around the
nucleus in electron shells
• each shell can hold a characteristic maximum
number of electrons
• THUS: chemical properties of an atom is due
largely to the number of electrons in its
outermost shell
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
11. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• THE ATOMS: Electronic Configurations
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
chemistry.tutorvista.com
The combining capacity of an atom (VALENCE) is the number of EXTRA
or MISSING electrons in the outermost shell.
Example: C = 4 (4); N = 5 (3); O = 6 (2); H = 1(1)
12. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• ATOMS TO MOLECULES: CHEMICAL BONDS!
• Compounds are molecules made up of two or
more atoms
• NOTE: compounds are formed to fill the
outermost shell (unfilled spaces)
• Chemical Bonds are attractive forces that bind
atomic nuclei of two atoms together
• e.g. Ionic, Covalent, H-bonds
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
13. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• IONIC BONDS!
• chemical attraction between ions of opposite charge
• electron donor and electron acceptor
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
14. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• COVALENT BONDS!
• atoms share pair of
electrons
• stronger than ionic
bonds and more
common in organisms
• determine POLARITY
• polar -unequal
sharing
• non-polar - equal
sharing
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu
15. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• HYDROGEN BONDS!
• exists when a hydrogen atom COVALENTLY bonded with
oxygen or nitrogen atoms are ATTRACTED to another oxygen
or nitrogen atom
• form WEAK links between molecules
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu
16. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu
The H-bonds of
LIFE
17. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• MOLECULAR WEIGHT and the MOLES!
• sum of atomic weights of all atoms in a molecule
• Application in the lab: MW = g/L or g/mole
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
Example: Tris base used to make Tris-HCL buffer
!
If MW = 121.14 g/mole…
you need 121.14 g per Liter of buffer to be
prepared (1M)
18. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• CHEMICAL REACTIONS!
• Synthesis - combines to form a larger molecule
• A + B AB!
• Decomposition - large molecule broken down into smaller
components
• AB A + B
• Exchange - two molecules are decomposed and their
subunits are used to synthesize two new molecules
• AB + CD AC + BD
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
19. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• REVERSIBLE CHEMICAL REACTION
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong www.umich.edu
20. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES:
INORGANIC COMPOUNDS!
• Inorganic compounds are small ionically-
bonded molecules
• Water
• Acids, Bases and Salts
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
21. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• WATER!
• most abundant
substance in cells
• polar THUS an
excellent solvent and
a temperature buffer
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong bio1151.nicerweb.com
22. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• ACID, BASES & SALTS!
• ACID dissociates into H+ and anions
• HCl = H+ and Cl -
• BASE dissociates into OH - and cations
• NaOH = Na+ and OH -
• SALT dissociates into negative and positive ions
• NaCl = Na+ and Cl -
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
23. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
• pH is the
concentration of H+ in
a solution
academic.cuesta.edu
24. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES: ORGANIC
COMPOUNDS!
• organic compounds always contain C and H
• mostly covalently bonded
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong www.proprofs.com
25. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL MOLECULES: ORGANIC
COMPOUNDS
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
26. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• CARBOHYDRATES
(CHOs)!
• contains C, H, O
• examples: sugars and
starches
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong bodybuilding-wizard.com
27. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• Monosaccharide, Disaccharide and Polysaccharide
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong bioserv.fiu.edu
28. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• LIPIDS!
• insoluble in water
• simple lipid (fat) = glycerol + 3 FA
• unsaturated FA - one or more double bonds
• saturated FA - no double bonds between
carbon atoms (have higher melting points)
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
29. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• saturated versus unsaturated FA
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
www.dradvice.co.uk
www.tackleacne.com
30. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• PROTEINS!
• amino acids are the building blocks of proteins
(C, H, O, N, sometimes S)
• peptide bonds link amino acids to form proteins
• primary (sequence), secondary (helices or
pleats), tertiary (overall 3D structure) and
quaternary (2 or more polypeptide chains)
structures
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
32. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• NUCLEIC ACIDS!
• DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA
(ribonucleic acid)
• NUCLEOTIDE = pentose + phosphate group +
nitrogen-containing base
• NUCLEOSIDE = pentose + nitrogen-containing
base
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
33. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• DNA versus RNA
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong
34. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• NUCLEOTIDE versus NUCLEOSIDE
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong www.siumed.edu
35. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE
• ATP!
• stores chemical energy for various cellular
activities
• hydrolysis of ATP will release energy
• energy from oxidation reaction will form ATP from
ADP and Pi
Marilen M. Parungao-Balolong