BIOCHEM 2EE3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Phosphatidylserine
27 Jun 2018
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1.20 Essential Attributes of All Living Things - The 7 Pillars
• Program - specific plan for the structure and reproduction of the organism.
• Improvisation - population-wide idea of inserting the capacity for change in the program, or
plan so as to promote survival.
• Compartmentalization - the ability of an organism to separate itself from the environment.
• Energy - energy must be harnessed using biochemical reactions.
• Regeneration - the organism’s ability to continuously repair and replace damage due to the
inevitable wear and tear of living
• Adaptability - an organism’s capacity to respond to environmental changes.
• Seclusion - which means that metabolic pathways and processes must operate in isolation of
one another.
1.22 Building Blocks of the Cell
• Example - E. coli - rod-shaped and has 2 cell membranes
• A cell is living because it is isolated (has a membrane surrounding it), membrane is selective:
meaning that it does allow some things to traverse it. The membrane in a cell is composed of
lipids.
1.23 Formation of the Lipid Membrane
• In this specific case it is called phosphatidylserine, with its polar (or water loving) head group
and its hydrophobic (or water hating) tails. They come together, resulting in this sort of barrier
keeping the inside in and the outside out..
1.24 Building Blocks of the Cell
• Bacterial chromosomal DNA composed of nucleic acids. DNA is the genetic code passed on
from generation to generation and it encodes for proteins
• Proteins are the workhorses of the cell. They perform diverse functions: from speeding up
chemical reactions (aka enzymes), to maintaining the structure of the cell, to aiding in cell
division, and so on and so on. All of these reactions require energy. This is where
carbohydrates come in. They are broken down to make energy. Carbohydrates also perform
other roles like helping to maintain structural components of the cell.
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Document Summary
1. 20 essential attributes of all living things - the 7 pillars: program - specific plan for the structure and reproduction of the organism. The membrane in a cell is composed of lipids. In this specific case it is called phosphatidylserine, with its polar (or water loving) head group and its hydrophobic (or water hating) tails. They come together, resulting in this sort of barrier keeping the inside in and the outside out 1. 24 building blocks of the cell: bacterial chromosomal dna composed of nucleic acids. Dna is the genetic code passed on from generation to generation and it encodes for proteins: proteins are the workhorses of the cell. They perform diverse functions: from speeding up chemical reactions (aka enzymes), to maintaining the structure of the cell, to aiding in cell division, and so on and so on.
