Reflecting...

Three major themes that I feel like we have discussed over this semester are: energy production, DNA replication and molecules and compounds within our body. All of these topics are discussed in general Biology classes, however not in so much detail. The Glycolysis cycle (energy production) we had to learn step by step in microbiology, DNA replication we learned in genetics and molecules and compounds within the human body are talked about in every biology class. A lot of the themes that we discussed during this semester were topics that I had pervious knowledge on. However, in this biochemistry class we went much further in depth on these topics that were once just background knowledge. I am now more knowledgeable on all of these themes and topics. I have learned a lot more about the energy production and the anabolism and catabolism cycles. I did not know much about storage mechanisms, and now I can tell you what is stored and the entire cycle on how it is stored.
All of the science classes that I have taken in my undergraduate career, have been building blocks to one another. No wonder, schools set up pre-requistes!!!

Explaining glucose entering the body and energy created....

When a person eats a meal, some of the sugars in the meal will be broken down into glucose. Glucose can be converted into energy by may different cycles. ATP is the molecule that creates energy in our bodies. The first cycle that glucose will enter is the glycolysis cycle. In this cycle glucose is converted in pyruvate, also during this cycle two ATPs are made. Glycolysis also makes two NADH+ molecules which will be made into ATP in the electron transport chain. Glucose is the starting factor of making 32 ATPs when it have officially completed all the cycles. Therefore, glucose plays an important role when it comes to energy production.

Connecting previous knowledge

During this last class I have connected a lot of past knowledge with information during the class. When we went over translation and transcription, it brought me right back to my genetics class that I took last spring. Also when we were talking about the certain repair mechanisms I was able to connect them with previous knowledge on repair mechanisms from genetics. Also, in genetics we went over all the complexes that were involved in these processes and they have come back into our education in biochemistry. It is very interesting how all these science classes are building blocks to each other.

4. Find an interesting biochemistry website and put its link in this entry, and describe what is found there.

The website that I chose was www.chem4kids.com. I reason I chose this website is because it gave a great overall of biochemistry. Even as a college student I found it to be a great review of some very important factors in biochemistry. Also, this website seemed very educational for the targeted age group... which is kids! It talks about some of the very important factors in biochemistry like: cycles, sugars, compounds, photosynthesis and much others. The website also gave some great pictures with details on how certain cycles work. Pictures are great on websites or in books because if the reader is a visual learner, like me, then they can really help get the point across. The website also include a quiz at the end, which encourages readers to know the material and get 100% on the quiz provided.

Even though this website does not go into depth for the college level class we are in now, it seemed very informational and educational for the targeted age and also gave a great detailed overview of biochemistry.

3. What knowledge have you connected with past knowledge?

Throughout this semester I have connected a lot of my past knowledge with topics that we are going over now. When we went over proteins amino acids during the second class, I was able to recall a lot of background information that I have obtained even from my earliest classes of biology. When we went over membranes, I encountered a lot of past knowledge because we are going over the same topic in Animal Physiology. The Sodium Potassium pump is a topic that is talked about, even in small detail in high school biology. We also talked about some of the enzymes that we have gone over in genetics which I completed last spring.

It is amazing to see how all these science classes interconnect and that all these classes really are building blocks. The further you go in these science classes you more in depth you go in the processes, however you still need all your prior knowledge in order to succeed.

2. Find a protein using PDB explorer–describe your protein, including what disease state or other real-world application it has.

The protein that I chose was the HUMAN OBESITY PROTEIN, LEPTIN. This gene is found in humans and has maintained a lot of interest over the years with obesity, and questioning if it can normalize body weight. However, the mutant form of this human obesity protein. When the mutant form is present the serum has the inability to transport to the central nervous system.

This gene could help cure obesity in the United States and other countries, if we could just understand it a little more.

I found this website very interesting and enjoyed browsing through some of the proteins. I also was very surprised to see how many proteins there were inside the human body. I would have never guessed that we had that many.

1. What is Biochemistry and how does it differ from the fields of genetics, biology, chemistry and molecular biology?

The following studies of science have the following short definitions listed

Biochemistry - the chemistry/chemical processes of living matter

Genetics - the science heredity and genes

Biology- the science of living matter and life cycles

Chemistry- study of matter and energy and how they interact

Molecular Biology- study of biology at the molecular level

All of these studies of sciences are similar but also very different. Biochemistry looks at living matter and focuses on cellular components inside the living matter. Where chemistry looks at some cellular components but does not actually have to be living matter. Genetics and Biochemistry seem very similar when it comes to comparing proteins, amino acids and nucleic acids. However, in genetics you look at how these proteins, nucleic acids and amino acids make up traits and characteristics in living matter. Molecular biology looks deeply into different variations and interactions between various systems in a cell.

As you can see, all of these sciences have a lot of similarities between each other. However, they all either have a broad or narrow scale on what they independently focus on. All of these sciences together would give you your best understanding of how "everything" is interconnected.