Biochemistry-I

What is Biochemistry?
• Bio= life, Chemistry = how things interact
• Biochemistry offers answers to the following questions:
• What we are made of? And How do we work?
• “The science concerned with the chemical basis of life”
• “The science concerned with the chemical constituents of living cells
and with the reactions and processes they undergo”
Biochemistry
• Traditionally it’s been a science of reductionism
• Isolating and characterizing an organism’s component molecules
• Thorough understanding of each molecule’s physical structure and
chemical reactivity helps lead to an understanding of how molecules
cooperate and combine to form larger functional units and,
ultimately, the intact organism
Three major themes of biochemistry
• 1. What are living organisms made of ?
• Some molecules are responsible for the physical shapes of cells
• Others carry out various activities in the cell
• Structure of molecules is intimately linked to its function
• So it is important to determine the structure of a molecule for
understanding its function
Continued.
• 2. How do organisms acquire and use energy?
• A cell needs an input energy to carry out different metabolic
reactions-to synthesize its constituents and to move, grow, and
reproduce
• This energy must be extracted from the environment and spend it or
store it in a manageable form
Continued.
• 3. How does an organism maintain its identity across generations?
• Modern human beings look much like they did 100,000 years ago
• Certain bacteria have persisted for millions, if not billions, of years
• In all organisms, information specifying a cell’s structural composition
and functional capacity must be faithfully maintained and transmitted
each time the cell divides
Basics of Chemistry
• Elements: simplest form of a substance - cannot be broken down any
further without changing what it is (C, H, O, N are found in cell in
large quantity)
• Atom: the actual basic unit of matter - composed of protons,
neutrons, and electrons
Figure. A comparison of the elements that make up the Earth’s crust and living organisms.
Continued.
• Isotopes: Atoms of the same element having different number of
neutrons (e.g. Hydrogen exists in 3 isotopic forms, all have one proton
but neutron number varies, protium, deuterium & tritium have 0, 1 &
2 neutron respectively)

• Compound: A substance formed by the chemical combination of 2 or

more elements e.g. water, salt, etc.
• Organic compound: Carbohydrates, Proteins, Lipids, Nucleic Acids
• Inorganic compound: usually "support" life (H2O, CO2)
Chemical bonds
• Hold the 2 atoms in a molecule together
• Ionic bond: formed by the transfer of one or
more electrons from one atom to another.
Losing or gaining an electron result in the
formation of ions
• Covalent bond: Occurs when electrons are
shared by atoms
Mixture
• A mixture is a material composed of two or more elements or
compounds that are physically mixed
• E.g. salt & pepper mixed, sugar and sand – can be easily separated
Solutions
• A liquid mixture in which the minor component (Solute) is evenly
distribute within the major component (Solvent)
• SOLUTE – Substance that is being dissolved (sugar / salt)
• SOLVENT - the substance in which the solute dissolves
• Suspension: a heterogeneous mixture in which the solute particles do
not dissolve but suspended (e.g. Blood, some syrups etc)
Formula
• The chemical symbols and numbers that compose a compound
• Structural Formula – Line drawings of the compound that shows the
elements in proportion and how they are bonded
• Molecular Formula – the ACTUAL formula for a compound

C2H6O
Common Functional groups in biochemistry
Biological molecules
• Carbohydrates (key source of energy)
• Proteins (different function, catalysis, growth & repair)
• Nucleic Acid (biological information)
• Lipids (energy storage, protection and insulation)