1: The Foundations of Biochemistry
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- 1.1: Cellular Foundations
- The page introduces biochemistry fundamentals from a chemical perspective, focusing on key cellular components and their chemical processes. It outlines the basic structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, highlighting the importance of genetic material, ribosomes, and the lipid bilayer. The text delves into the four classes of biomolecules including lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates, and their roles in cellular metabolism.
- 1.2: Chemical Foundations
- The page provides an overview of organic molecules, focusing on various functional groups fundamental to understanding biochemistry. It details different classes of organic compounds, such as alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatics, alcohols, phenols, thiols, ethers, sulfides, amines, phosphates, aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids, describing their structures and reactions.
- 1.3: Physical-Chemical Foundations
- This page delves into the fundamentals of chemical kinetics and thermodynamics within biochemistry. It explains key concepts such as reaction rates, activation energy, reaction mechanisms, the transition state, and how these factors, alongside thermodynamic principles like enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy, dictate reaction spontaneity and equilibrium.
- 1.4: Genetic Foundations
- This page contains detailed information on various fundamental concepts in biochemistry, particularly focusing on genetic information flow, gene structure, genetic code, mutations, and DNA manipulation techniques. It covers topics including the Central Dogma of Biology, natural selection, genetic variation, molecular mechanisms of DNA replication, transcription, translation, and the way codons specify amino acids.