Module 1 INTRO

• Biochemistry

  • The chemistry of living organisms
  • Studied at the molecular level of organisms
  • Living organisms interpreted in chemical terms
  • Appropriate complexity and properties
  • Composed of lifeless molecules
  • This molecules confirm to all the physical and chemical laws that describe the behavior of the inanimate matter
• Add notes about biochemistry:

  • Branch of Science concerned with the chemical and physiochemical processes and substances which occur within living organisms
  • It covers the study of biomolecules in relation to their structure and functions to the living system, the generation and storage of metabolic energy
• Scope of Biochemistry

  1. The chemical components of human body
  2. The major chemical processes in human body
  3. Nutrition and mineral metabolism
  4. Molecular genetics
• Characteristic of Living Matter

  1. Complicated and highly organized. Cells which internal structure and is very important as they contain complex molecules
  2. Specific purpose - chemical compounds in a cell
  3. Food is needed to generate energy - simple raw materials
  4. Precise self-replication

  * Inanimate molecules found in living organisms interact with each other to constitute, maintain and perpetuate the living state
• History

  • 17th & 18th Centuries

  : Important foundations were laid in many fields of biology

  • 19th Century

  : Observed the development of very crucial concepts, which include

  SCHLEIDEN & SCHWANN

  : cell theory

  MENDEL'S

  : study of inheritance

  DARWIN'S

  : theory of evolution
• • FRIEDRICH WOHLER (1828) - organic compound, urea from inorganic compound; achieved total synthesis of ureafrom lead cyanate & ammonia
  • SCHLEIDEN & SCHWANN (1838) - cell theory
  • LOUIS PASTEUR (1854-1864) - microorganism cause fermentation; central importance of enzymes
  • MENDEL (1866) - inheritance; segregation and independent assortment of genes
  • FRIEDRICH MIESCHER (1869) - dna
• • EDWARD BUCKNER (1897) - enzyme research & biochemistry; alcoholic fermentation in cell free yeast extract into alcohol
  • CARL NEUBERG (1903) - biochemistry
  • CARL NEUBERG (1912) - chemical pathway for fermentation
  • LEONOR MICHAELIS & LEONORA MENTEN (1913) - kinetic theory of enzyme action
  • JAMES SUMNER (1926) - crystallized an enzyme, urease and proved it to be a protein
• IMPORTANCE OF BIOCHEMISTRY IN MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE

  Medical Laboratory Science is vital to the healthcare system as the profession is responsible for providing laboratory analyses of patients body tissues and body fluids such as cells, urine and blood, which will greatly help physicians to reach conclusive diagnosis. Without the ongoing profound discoveries of scientific breakthroughs in biochemistry, healthcare workers will not have the precise chemical knowledge to create the vital drugs, therapies and diagnostic tools that are being used every day.
• IMPORTANCE OF BIOCHEMISTRY IN MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE

  The medical laboratory science is just one area that has advanced from biochemistry. The discipline has made dynamic contributions to the fields of physiology, pharmacology, immunology, nutrition, forensic medicine as well as in fields of cancer and cell injury.
• INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE

  
• Biomolecules


  : Chemical components of living organisms

  : Organic compound wherein the carbon element can either be reduced or hydrogenated

  : Many organic compounds may contain nitrogen
• 2 Major Categories of Biomolecules

  1. Small Molecules - metabolites or monomers
  2. Macromolecules - ex. proteins

  * Small molecules are going to be either metabolites or monomers from which the macromolecules are built.
• 4 Major Categories in Monomers and Associated Macromolecules

  • THE NITROGENOUS BASES (purines & pyrimidines)

  : components of nucleic acid (RNA & DNA - used for information storage and processing)

  • THE AMINO ACIDS (building blocks of proteins)

  : comprise the machinery of life (ENZYMES)

  • THE SUGARS

  : components of polysaccharides (together comprising carbohydrates - used for energy storage & structure)

  • THE FATTY ACIDS

  : together w/glycerol make up the fats (energy storage) and phospholipids (major components of cell membrane)
• The Amino Acids, Nucleotides and Sugars can all be polymerized to give the macromolecules characteristic of life:

  1. Proteins
  2. Nucleic Acids
  3. Polysaccharides
• IMPORTANT CELL AXIOMS IN BIOCHEMISTRY

  • There is an underlying simplicity in the molecular organization of the cell
  • All living organism have a common ancestor
  • The identity of each species of organism is preserved by its possession of characteristic sets of nucleic acids and proteins
  • Living cells contain the simplest possible molecules in the least number of different types, just sufficient to endow them the attribute of life under environmental conditions in which they exist (Principle of molecular economy in living organisms)
• IMPORTANT CELL AXIOMS IN BIOCHEMISTRY

  • Living organism create and maintain their essential orderliness at the expense of their environment, which they cause to become more disordered and random
  • Living cells function as isothermal chemical changes
  • The specificity of molecular interactions in cells results from the structural complementarity of the interacting molecules
  • Consecutively linked sequences of enzyme-catalyzed reactions provide the means for transferring chemical energy from energy yielding to energy-requiring processes
• IMPORTANT CELL AXIOMS IN BIOCHEMISTRY

  • Cells are capable of regulating their metabolic reactions and the biosynthesis of their enzymes to achieve maximum efficiency and economy
  • The symbols in which the genetic information is coded in DNA are sub molecular in dimension