The Facts of Life:

Chemistry is the Logic of

Biological Phenomena
 
- Definition of Biochemistry

- Distinctive Properties of Living Systems

- Biomolecules

- Structural Organization of Biomolecule

 Definition of Biochemistry
• Biochemistry can be defined as the science of the chemical basis of
life (Gk bios “life”)

• Cell- ________ of living systems

• Biochemistry can also be described as the science of the chemical

constituents of living cells and of the reactions and processes they
undergo.
What are the Distinctive Properties of
Living Systems
• _______ and highly organized
- Organisms large enough to be seen with the naked eye are composed
of many cells, typically of many types.

atom  _________  macromolecule (conformation) 

________  cells tissue  organ  organ system  organism
What are the Distinctive Properties of Living Systems?
• Biological structures serve functional purposes
- biological structures play a role in the organism’s existence. From parts of
organisms, such as limbs and organs, down to the chemical agents of
metabolism, such as enzymes and metabolic intermediates, a biological
purpose can be given for each component.

• Living systems are actively engaged in energy transformation

- Maintenance of the highly organized structure and activity of living systems
depends on their ability to extract energy from the environment.
What are the Distinctive Properties of Living Systems?

• Living systems have a remarkable capacity for _________

-Generation after generation, organisms reproduce virtually identical copies
of themselves.
• This self-replication can proceed by a variety of mechanisms, ranging from
simple division in bacteria to sexual reproduction in plants and animals
• but in every case, it is characterized by an astounding degree of fidelity.
Indeed, if the accuracy of self-replication were significantly greater, the
evolution of organisms would be hampered. This is so because evolution
depends upon natural selection operating on individual organisms that
vary slightly in their fitness for the environment