BIOCHEMISTRY INTRODUCTION question and answer passed 100%

BIOCHEMISTRY - •chemistry of life processes BIOCHEMISTRY - •Study of life at the molecular level BIOCHEMISTRY - •Studying the chemical processes of living organisms 3 primary areas of biochemistry: - 1. Structural and functional biochemistry 2. Informational biochemistry 3. Bioenergetics 1. Structural and functional biochemistry - focuses initially on discovering the chemical structures and three-dimensional arrangements of biomolecules (protein, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids), those chemicals that are found in living matter 2. Informational biochemistry - - defines the language(s) for storing biological data and for transmitting that data in cells and organisms. 3. Bioenergetics - - describes the flow of energy in living organisms and how it may be transferred from one process to another. •The Chinese in the fourth century B.C. - believed that humans contained five elements: water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. •The early Greeks, including Plato (428-348 B.C.), - attempted to explain the body in terms of cosmological theories and stressed diet for treatment of disease.