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Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and
transformations in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of
cellular components, such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and
other biomolecules. Chemical biology aims to answer many questions arising from
biochemistry by using tools developed within synthetic chemistry.
Although there are a vast number of different biomolecules, many are complex and
large molecules (called polymers) that are composed of similar repeating
subunits (called monomers). Each class of polymeric biomolecule has a different
set of subunit types. For example, a protein is a polymer made up of 40 or more
amino acids. Biochemistry studies the chemical properties of important
biological molecules, like proteins, in particular the chemistry of
enzyme-catalyzed reactions.
The
Biochemistry of cell metabolism and the endocrine system has been
extensively described. Other areas of biochemistry include the genetic code
(DNA, RNA), protein synthesis, cell membrane transport, and signal transduction.
This article only discusses terrestrial biochemistry (carbon- and water-based),
as all the life forms we know are on Earth. Since life forms alive today are
hypothesized by most to have descended from the same common ancestor, they would
naturally have similar biochemistries, even for matters that seem to be
essentially arbitrary, such as handedness of various biomolecules. It is unknown
whether alternative biochemistries are possible or practical.
History of biochemistry
Originally,
biochemistry was generally believed that life was not subject to the
laws of science the way non-life was.
biochemistry was thought that only living beings could produce the
molecules of life (from other, previously existing biomolecules). Then, in 1828,
Friedrich Wöhler published a paper about the synthesis of urea, proving that
organic compounds can be created artificially. The dawn of biochemistry may have
been the discovery of the first enzyme, diastase (today called amylase), in 1833
by Anselme Payen. Eduard Buchner contributed the first demonstration of a
complex biochemical process outside of a cell in 1896: alcoholic fermentation in
cell extracts of yeast. Although the term “biochemistry” seems to have been
first used in 1882, it is generally accepted that the formal coinage of
biochemistry occurred in 1903 by Carl Neuberg, a German chemist. Previously,
this area would have been referred to as physiological chemistry. Since then,
biochemistry has advanced, especially since the mid-20th century, with the
development of new techniques such as chromatography, X-ray diffraction, NMR
spectroscopy, radioisotopic labeling, electron microscopy and molecular dynamics
simulations. These techniques allowed for the discovery and detailed analysis of
many molecules and metabolic pathways of the cell, such as glycolysis and the
Krebs cycle (citric acid cycle).
Today, the findings of biochemistry are used in many areas, from genetics
to molecular biology and from agriculture to medicine.Biochemists work in many walks of life - in industry, hospitals, agriculture,
research institutes, education and associated areas. There are many areas of
everyday life as diverse as medical products and diagnostics, new food and its
safety, crop improvement, cosmetics and forensic science that owe their
development or even existence to biochemists
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