Building Blocks of Life
Atoms contain proton and neutron inside the neucleus and electrons floating around
it
Size: 100 picometers (1/10,000 microns)
CHNOPS
Carbon, H, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur
...
Building Blocks of Life
Atoms contain proton and neutron inside the neucleus and electrons floating around
it
Size: 100 picometers (1/10,000 microns)
CHNOPS
Carbon, H, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur make up most biological
maolecules on Earth
Sodium, Chloride, Potassium, Calcium, and Iron are incorporated in tissues and
water in our bodies
Fe: important for blood
Calcium: important for bones
Molecules are formed by chemical bonds
4 Big Molecules:
1. Carbohydrates- “sugars”: made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
Glucose-> made by hydrolysis; used in food industry ----
Sucrose-> used in making sugar
glycogen-> human way of storing energy, must be broken down first :
composed of lots of glucose molecules
cellulose-> “fiber”.. used to create cell wall in plants
starch-> plant way of storing energy
monomer is one building block that is used for energy
polymer: multiple building blocks used for energy
polysaccharide: multiple sugars attached together that form energy when broken ->
hydrolysis is the term used for the breaking of the polysaccharides
2. Fats- contain polar head and nonpolar tails: phospholipid -triglycerides: saturated fatty->single bonds/ no double bond.. hydrogens at
every carbon
Unsaturated fatty-> double bonds (less H)-neither one is better or worse for you, transfats “bad
cholesterol” are considered bad
Cholesterol-> good cholesterol-> prevents blood clots, and produces
hormones (cortisol)
bad cholesterol->blood clots (trans fats)
all fats are lipophilic-> water resistant
phospholipid-> polar heads, and nonpolar tails don’t allow ions to flow through but
are able to glide through water
polar heads- hydrophilic- can mix with water
nonpolar tails- hydrophobic – cannot mix with water -certain ions can make there way inside but, -keeps what is inside the cell from being diffused with water -molecules and ions cant go in, unless channels are created
3. Proteins- 20 amino acids
Amino acid-> peptide(string of amino)-> protein( complex chain of amino that folds
“quaternary structure”)
Proteins- receptors for neurotransmitters -products of genes
3. Nucleic Acids
DNA and RNA-> how proteins are made
Nucleotides: sugar( ribose or deoxydribose), phosphate, nitrogenous base,
nucleotide bases are bonded together by hydrogen bonds
Sugar and phosphorous- make up backbone
Hydrogen- form bonds
Nitrogen- makes the bases
DNA: A, T, G ,C
RNA: A, U, G, C
Purine bases (2 rings): A, G
Pyrimidine bases (1 ring) : C, T , U
Mitochondrial DNA-> made through oxidative phosphorylation-> creates ATP-maternal inheritance
Chromosomes- thread like string of DNA
Centromere- tightly packed part of DNA (heterochromatin
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