Lesson 1: Intro to Biochem

• Biochemistry - the study of the chemical substances found in living organisms and the chemical interactions of these substances with each other
• Biochemistry - the area of chemistry that describes and studies life in terms of molecular level processes.
• Types of Biochemical Substances:

  • Bioinorganic Substance
  • Bioorganic Substance
• Bioinorganic - substances mostly that do not contain carbon.
• Bioorganic - substances that contains carbon
• Molecular Level Processes - only be seen through microscope
• Cellular Respiration - The process of releasing energy from glucose in the form of ATP
• Glycolysis - The breakdown of glucose to produce two pyruvate molecules
• Krebs Cycle (TCA cycle) - The oxidation of acetyl CoA, producing NADH, FADH2, CO2, and GTP
• Oxidative Phosphorylation - The process of transferring energy from reduced NADH to oxygen
• Electron Transport Chain - A series of enzyme-controlled redox reactions that occur in the inner mitochondrial membrane
• Chemiosmosis - the movement of ions across the membrane of a cell
• Tonicity - the ability of a solution to cause a cell to change its shape.
• Isotonic Solution - a solution with an equal concentration of solutes as another solution.
• Hypertonic Solution - a solution with more solute than another solution.
• Hypotonic Solution - A solution that has a lower solute concentration than the cell
• Osmosis - The diffusion of water molecules from a region of higher water potential to one of lower water potential through a selectively permeable membrane.
• Four Common Elements of Living Organism:

  • Carbon
  • Hydrogen
  • Oxygen
  • Nitrogen
• Cell - building blocks of life
• Cell - universal functional unit of all forms of life.
• Two major classes of Cells:

  • Prokaryotic Cells
  • Eukaryotic Cells
• Anton Van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)

  - In 1673, he perfects the simple microscope and observes cell and microorganisms
• Anton Van Leeuwenhoek

  - He discovered bacteria in 1674 and four years later, he discovers protozoa.
• Anton Van Leeuwenhoek - father of microbiology
• Leeuwenhoek coined the term “animalcules” to describe the first microscopic organisms he observed.
• Robert Hooke (July 18, 1635 – March 3, 1703)

  - In 1665, he published his book “Micrographia”, which contains his drawings of sections of cork as seen through one of the first microscope
• Robert Hooke (July 18, 1635 – April 11, 1703)

  - In 1665, he published his book “Micrographia”, which contains his drawings of sections of cork as seen through one of the first microscope
• Robert Hooke - first to use the word cell
• Theodore Schwann

  - Studied Animal cells in detail under the microscope
• Matthias Schleiden

  - He discovered that plant parts are made up of cells
• Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow

  - Pope of Medicine
• Rudolf Ludwig Karl Virchow

  - Father of Modern Pathology
• Rudolph Virchow’s powerful dictum, Omnis cellula e cellula: “All cells only arise from pre-existing cells”
• Spontaneous Generation Theory

  - by John Needham but debunked but Louis Pasteur
• Spontaneous Generation Theory

  - by John Needham debunked by Louis Pasteur.
• Prokaryotic cells  

  - Bacteria 

  - Eubacteria   

  - Archaeabacteria
• Eukaryotic cells   

  - Protists   

  - Fungi   

  - Plants   

  - Animals
• Phagocytosis - the process of engulfing and digesting foreign particles
• Cell Membrane

  - regulates passage of materials
• Cell Membrane

  - protects and supports the cell