THE BIG PICTURE

Chemistry is essential for life…

 Biochemistry, the study of living organisms at
the molecular level, has shown us many of the
details of the most fundamental processes of
life.
 For instance, biochemistry has shown how a
single molecule of DNA can create two
identical copies of itself and how information
inherent in the DNA molecule is expressed in a
biologically useful manner
 In other words, biochemistry has
shown us how information flows from
genes to molecules that have functional
capabilities.
 In recent years, biochemistry has also
unraveled some of the mysteries of the
molecular generators that provide the
energy that power living organisms
 The realization that we can understand such
essential life processes has significant
philosophical implications.
 What does it mean, biochemically, to be
human?
 What are the biochemical differences
between a human being, a chimpanzee, a
mouse, and a fruit fly?
 Are we more similar than we are different?
 The understanding achieved through biochemistry is
greatly influencing medicine and other fields.

 Although we may not be accustomed to thinking of

illness in relation to molecules, illness is ultimately some
sort of malfunction at the molecular level.

 The molecular lesions causing sickle-cell anemia, cystic

fibrosis, hemophilia, and many other genetic diseases
have been elucidated at the biochemical level.

 Many of the molecular events that contribute to cancer

development have been identified.
 An understanding of the underlying defects opens the
door to the discovery of effective therapies.

 Biochemistry makes possible the rational design of new

drugs, including specific inhibitors of enzymes required
for the replication of viruses such as human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the viral agent that
causes AIDS.

 Genetically engineered bacteria or other organisms can

be used as “factories” to produce valuable proteins such
as insulin and stimulators of blood-cell development.
 Biochemistry is also contributing richly to
clinical diagnostics. For example, elevated levels
of telltale enzymes in the blood reveal whether a
patient has recently had a myocardial infarction
(heart attack).

 Agriculture, too, is benefiting from advances in

biochemistry with the development of more
effective, environmentally safer herbicides and
pesticides and with the creation of genetically
engineered plants that are, for example, more
resistant to insects.
 Biochemistry empowers us to tackle some of the most
exciting and profound questions that we can ask. How
does a fertilized human egg give rise to a human
being, with the wide array of interacting and
interdependent cells and tissues?

 How do the senses work; that is, how do we know our

world? What are the molecular bases for mental
disorders such as Alzheimer disease and
schizophrenia?

 The answers to such questions, which once seemed

remote, have been partly uncovered and are likely to
be more thoroughly revealed in the near future.
 A key goal of biochemistry, one that has been met with
astonishing success, is to understand what it means to be alive at
a molecular level. Another goal is to extend this understanding to
the level of the organism—that is, to understand the effect that
molecular manipulations have on the life that the organism leads.

 For instance, understanding how the hormone insulin works at

the molecular level illuminates how the organism controls the
levels of fuels that are in its blood.

 Often, such understanding facilitates an understanding of disease

states—in regard to insulin, diabetes—which, in turn, can be a
source of insight into how the disease can be treated
Much knowledge has been gained about how a variety of
organisms manipulate energy and information.
However, one of the most exciting outcomes of
biochemical research has been the realization that all
organisms have much in common biochemically.

Organisms are remarkably uniform at the molecular

level. This observation is frequently referred to as the
unity of biochemistry, but, in reality, it illustrates the
unity of life.

French biochemist Jacques Monod encapsulated this

idea in 1954 with the phrase “Anything found to be true
of [the bacterium] E. coli must also be true of
elephants.”
 French biochemist Jacques Monod encapsulated this
idea in 1954 with the phrase “Anything found to be true
of [the bacterium] E. coli must also be true of
elephants.

 This uniformity reveals that all organisms on Earth

have arisen from a common ancestor. A core of
essential biochemical processes, common to all
organisms, appeared early in the evolution of life.

 The diversity of life in the modern world has been

generated by evolutionary processes acting on these
core processes through millions or even billions of
years.
 Ninety naturally occurring elements have been
identified, yet only three—oxygen, hydrogen
and carbon—make up 98% of the atoms in an
organism.
 Moreover, the abundance of these three
elements in life is vastly different from their
abundance in Earth’s crust
 What can account for the disparity between
what is available and what organisms are made
of?
 Afteroxygen and hydrogen, the next most common
element in living organisms is carbon.Most large
molecules in living systems are made up predominantly
of carbon. Fuel molecules are made entirely of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen.

 Biologicalfuels, like the fuels that power machinery,

react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water.

 In
regard to biological fuels, this reaction, called
combustion, provides the energy to power the cell.
 As a means of seeing why carbon is uniquely suited
for life, let us compare it with silicon, its nearest
elemental relative.

 Silicon is much more plentiful than carbon in Earth’s

crust and, like carbon, can form four covalent
bonds—a property crucial to the construction of
large molecules.However, carbon-to-carbon bonds
are stronger than silicon-to-silicon bonds. This
difference in bond strength has two important
consequences.
 First, large molecules can be built with the use of
carbon–carbon bonds as the backbone because of the
stability of these bonds.

 Second, more energy is released when carbon–carbon

bonds undergo combustion than when silicon reacts
with oxygen.

 Thus, carbon-based molecules are stronger

construction materials and are better fuels than
silicon-based molecules
 Carbon even has an advantage over silicon after
it has undergone combustion. Carbon dioxide is
readily soluble in water and can exist as a gas;
thus, it remains in biochemical circulation,
given off by one tissue or organism to be used
by another tissue or organism.

 In contrast, silicon is essentially insoluble in

reactions with oxygen. After it has combined
with oxygen, it is permanently out of
circulation.
 Other elements have essential roles in living
systems—notably nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur.
 Moreover, some of the trace elements, although
present in tiny amounts compared with oxygen,
hydrogen and carbon, are absolutely vital to a number
of life processes.
 We will see specific uses of these elements as we
proceed with our study of biochemistry.
 Living systems contain a dizzying array of
biomolecules. However, these biomolecules can be
divided into just four classes: proteins, nucleic acids,
lipids, and carbohydrates.
  Probably the most complicated of all biological
molecules.
 Serve the most varied purposes, including:
Support structural proteins (e.g., keratin, collagen)

Enzymes speed up chemical reactions

Transport cell membranes channels, transporters in blood

(e.g., Hemoglobin)

Defense antibodies of the immune system

Hormones cell signaling (e.g., insulin)

Motion contractile proteins (e.g., actin, myosin)

Collagen
Cellular Transport
 Motion

actin & myosin

fibers in muscles
Nucleic Acids
DNA