We've already looked at the monomers that make up a protein: amino acids. But fully functioning 3D proteins are much more complex in structure than a simple polypeptide chain. Today we will look at the different levels of structure in proteins and some specific examples. Levels of protein structure So let's start with a quick … Read more
Last week we looked at glucose and disaccharides, which are simple carbohydrates. However, many carbohydrate molecules are made up of long chains of monosaccharides joined together to form polysaccharides. Today we will look at polysaccharides made from glucose. We saw in the last article that to form the disaccharide maltose, two glucose molecules are joined … Read more
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. In this series we have already seen how nucleotides are the monomers joined together to make polynucleotide chains in DNA and RNA. Similarly, in proteins, amino acids are the monomers joined together to make polypeptide chains. Structure Firstly, let's look at the structure of an amino acid. … Read more
Most people have heard of DNA, but ribonucleic acid (RNA) is its lesser known cousin. They have many similar features, but quite different functions. There are different types of RNA, the three main types being messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), and ribosomal RNA (rRNA). If you have been following the cell organelle series, you … Read more
DNA is the abbreviation for deoxyribonucleic acid. A long word for an extremely long molecule; there is about two meters of DNA in each human cell. There is so much to say about this fascinating molecule, but here we will focus on the basic structure and function. DNA Introduction Firstly, where is DNA found? In … Read more
