Biology And Biomedical Sciences BIOL 2960 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Chemical Formula, Hydrolysis, Organic Compound

• School: WUSTL
• Department: Biology And Biomedical Sciences
• Course: Biology And Biomedical Sciences BIOL 2960
• Professor: Kunkel Barbara

Document Summary

Sec 3. 1: what kinds of molecules characterize living things: macromolecules differ from regular molecules in various ways. Atoms of a macromolecule are held together mostly by covalent bonds -- structural stability. All except for the lipids are polymers via covalent bonds and distinctive three-dimensional geometries. Macromolecule -- polymer with molecular weight over 1,000: there are four major macromolecules of life: Lipids can also form polymer structures but the bonds are not covalent. Formed from four kinds of nucleotide monomers linked together in long chains: functional groups give specific properties to biological molecules. Isomers are molecules that have the same chemical formula but different orientation. Structural -- differ in how their atoms are joined together. The four macromolecules are present in roughly the same proportion in all organisms. A protein that has a certain function in an apple probably has the same one in a human. This unity is because of evolution from a common ancestor.