Chem 1010
Brandy Quinney
Chemistry of the body
The human body is the most fascinating thing about us. It is made up of physics and
chemistry all around. I will be discussing some of the different chemistry that makes up our
bodies, such things as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and enzymes. Our body has
many chemical properties that make us living.
Carbohydrates are molecules that consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. They are
the most abundant biological chemical on earth. They play the role of such diverse functions,
such as storing energy and the use of structure formation (such as cells). They also can be
found in component such as components of nucleic acids, and carbohydrates can be found in
certain coenzymes. Carbohydrates can be classified into 4 different groupings:
monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, disaccharide, and polysaccharides.
Monosaccharides are the simplest form of carbohydrates. It is the smallest basic unit of
sugar. They are usually colorless, water soluble, crystalline solids. Some monosaccharide’s have
a sweet taste. Some examples of monosaccharides are fructose, galactose, and glucose. These
monosaccharide’s some people can’t have a lot of because of medical problems such as
diabetes and others.
The next carbohydrate is oligosaccharides. Oligosaccharides are saccharide polymers
that contain a small number of simple sugars. Oligosaccharides have many functions. They are
commonly found in the plasma membrane of animal cells and they also help regenerate cell
production. The oligosaccharides are found in vegetables. They are also found in human red
blood cells of type A and type B blood types. The oligosaccharides are consumed and help
regulate the intestinal flora for your stomach.
Disaccharides are formed by two monosaccrides are joined together and a molecule of
water is removed. Disaccharides are formed in an aqueous solution when dissolved in water.
Some of the most used disaccharides used are sucrose, lactose, and maltose. I didn’t know this,
but people that are lactose and tolerant have a carbohydrate problem. I find that very
interesting.
The last groups of the carbohydrates are called polysaccharides. Polysaccharides are
most often heterogeneous. Depending on their structure these macromolecules have distinct
properties from their monosaccharide brother. They can be insoluble in water. Polysaccharides
are starch, glycogen, cellulous, and chitin. The polysaccharides are the most beneficial for us.
These are the ones that help the fiber we need in our bodies for digestion.
Proteins are another example of chemistry that we have in our bodies. Proteins in the
body help control many functions in the body including metabolism, cell growth, and
neurotransmission. Proteins can act as energy chemicals reactions that are critical to life.
Proteins are made up of amino acids using information encoded in genes. Each protein has its
own unique amino acid.
Proteins are constructed on the ribosome’s, where it is implemented on strands of RNA.
The sequence of amino acids is dictated by the genetic code and read out by the ribosome’s.
The key to the proper function of many proteins is their unique shape. The unique shape is
formed as the protein folds. Identical proteins may or may not share the same function,
depending on how they are folded. If folded improperly, proteins may fail to function or may
accumulate into insoluble aggregated know as inclusion bodies.
The human body produces many amino acids naturally. They are alanine, asparagine,
aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, clutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine. There
are also 10 amino acids that we need to eat to survive. They are arginine, histidine,
methionine, thrioninie, valine, isoleucine, lysine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and leucine. The
only way we can find these amino acids is by eating them.
Only human infants typically need arginine, and histidinge. For example, asparagines
tends to be consumed in the urea cycle faster than it is produced, so it may become a dietary
sample. Cysteine and tyrosine, both nonessential are formed from methionine and
phenylalanine, that are essential. If there are deficiencies in amino acids, the body has only one
source for these. The body needs proteins for muscle production, especially the heart muscle.
Lipids are a class of compounds distinguished by their insolubility in water and solubility
in nonpolar solvents. Lipids are very important in biological systems because they form the cell
membrane. The cell membrane is a mechanical barrier that divides a cell from the external
environment. Lipids also provide energy for life and several essential vitamins are lipids. A
nonsaponifiable lipid cannot be broken up into smaller molecules by hydrolysis. There are
several specific types of lipids important to life. They include fatty acids, triglycerides,
glycerophospholilpids, waxes, phosophlipids, and sphingolipids.
Nonpolar lipids, such as triglycerides, are used for energy storage and fuel. Fatty acids
are important components of all lipids. Fatty acids are broken up into two different varieties,
saturated, and unsaturated acids. There are also six main functions of lipids in the human body.
They consist of, fuel for production of energy. They also provide the body with essential fatty
acids and fat soluble vitamins and phosphorus in the form of phospholipids. Lipids also help in
the fixation of internal organs. Lipids help in the formation of lipoprotein. They help in the
synthesis of cholesterol. And it provides milk with fat content.
Lipids also help in the production of steroids. Steroids help athletes’ enhance the ability
of the production of muscle mass. I know it is not right to use steroids, but at times you have to
use them when you’re sick or have an illness to help you produce more enzymes and antibodies
to make you feel better. I didn’t know that lipids were steroids. That was something new to
me.
I think that nucleic acid and nucleotides in our body are very intresting. Nucleotides are
one of the most important classes of molecules in our body. The first role that nucleotides play
is acting as the basis for sources of energy that drive biochemical reactions. Nucleotides are the
component of the nucleic acids, RNA and DNA. Nucleotides play central roles in metabolism.
Nucleic acids can vary in size, but are overall very large molecules. Nucleic acids are
linear chains of nucleotides. Nucleic acid types differ in the structure of the sugar in their
nucleotides. The sugars and phosphates in nucleic acid connected to each other in an
alternating chain through different linkages.
Without DNA or RNA we wouldn’t exist or be able to reproduce ourselves. With the
nucleic acids in our bodies helping all the chromosomes reproduce functionally we do have that
option of reproduction. Everything you are in your body is encoded in the DNA in your cells.
Now I know sometimes cells get messed up or eaten by bugs as I like to call them, but the most
of them look extraordinary with their double helix pattern.
So as we go throughout life thinking we are less than ordinary we need to just think to
ourselves hey what is our body doing inside of us. Without our chemistry makeup we wouldn’t
be able to exist let alone reproduce ourselves and make little humans. I have learned new and
exciting things about the chemistry makeup of my own body and how proteins and lipids can
really help us.
The last subject I would like to touch on is the enzymes of our body. Without them they
help in the production of everything. An enzyme is a molecule that greatly speeds up the rate
at which a chemical reaction will occur. In most cases, enzymes are proteins. The key aspect of
an enzyme is that it reduces the activation energy required for a reaction. So it speeds up the
reaction making it faster. Without enzymes, many chemical reactions in the cell which make life
possible would probably never happen.
During a reaction, the enzyme binds to one or more reactants and it is the binding of the
enzyme to the reactant that lowers the activation energy. It is amazing that this process occurs
in nature allowing life to exist. There are several factors that can influence how well an enzyme
works. They are temperature, pH of the local environment, concentration of the substrate,
presence of inhibitors and the presence of cofactors and coenzymes.
An enzyme works by lowering the activation energy for a chemical reaction. An enzyme
with a high turnover number can catalyze more reactions in a given amount of time.
Sometimes an enzyme requires a little helper molecule in order to function. A molecule that
helps that enzyme become active is called a cofactor or a coenzyme.
Wow, look at all the chemistry our body has to offer us. Without these chemical
balances our life wouldn’t exist and there for we wouldn’t exist. I thank whatever scientists
help discover these functions in our bodies. And I want to thank all the research that is still
happening right now that gives us a better understanding of how our body works and how we
can fix it if we get sick or suffer an injury.
Works cited
Biochemistry Demystified by Sharon Walker, Ph. D. and David McMahon 2008