It is mainly used to study the structure and function of various components in cells, such as protein, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biological macromolecules. For chemical biology, it focuses on using methods in chemical synthesis to answer related questions found in biochemistry. [ 1]
Chinese name
biochemistry
Foreign name
biochemistry
core
Study life with chemical methods and theories.
abbreviate
biochemistry
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history
material composition
substance metabolism
Structure and function
Reproduction and heredity
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A brief history of development
definition
A branch of biology. It is a basic life science that studies the chemical composition, structure and various chemical changes in the process of life activities.
Lavoisier
The word biochemistry appeared around the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century, but its origin can be traced back further, and its early history is a part of the early physiological and chemical history. For example, in the 1980s of 18, A.-L. lavoisier proved that respiration is as oxidation as combustion. Almost at the same time, scientists found that photosynthesis is essentially the reverse process of plant respiration. For example, in 1828, F. Waller synthesized an organic substance-urea for the first time in the laboratory, which broke the view that organic matter can only be produced by organisms and caused a great blow to the theory of vitality. 1860 L. Pasteur proved that fermentation was caused by microorganisms, but he thought that there must be live yeast to cause fermentation. 1897, the Pichina brothers discovered that the cell-free extract of yeast can be fermented, which proved that such complex life activities can be carried out without living cells, and finally overturned the "vitality theory".
history
Before urea was synthesized artificially, it was generally believed that the scientific laws of inanimate matter did not apply to living things, and only living things could produce molecules (that is, organic molecules) that constitute living things. Until 1828, chemist Friedrich W?hler successfully synthesized urea, which proved that organic molecules can also be synthesized artificially. [ 1]
Biochemical research began in 1883, when Anselm Payan discovered the first enzyme-amylase. From 65438 to 0896, Edward Bischner explained a complex biochemical process: ethanol fermentation in yeast cell extracts. The term "biochemistry" has been used since 1882. But it was not until 1903 that German chemist Karl newberg used this word, and the word "biochemistry" was widely accepted. Subsequently, biochemistry continued to develop, especially since the middle of the 20th century. With the emergence of various new technologies, such as chromatography, X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, radioisotope labeling, electron microscopy and molecular dynamics simulation, biochemistry has made great progress. These technologies make it possible to study many biological molecular structures and cell metabolic pathways, such as glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid cycle. [ 1]
Another historical event of great significance in the history of biochemistry is the discovery of genes and their role in transmitting genetic information in cells; In biochemistry, the relevant part is usually called molecular biology. During the period of 1950, james watson, Francis Harry Compton Crick, rosalind franklin and maurice wilkins participated in the analysis of DNA double helix structure, and put forward the relationship between DNA and genetic information transmission. [ 1]
1958, George Wells Bedell and Edward Laurie Tatum won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for discovering that "a gene produces an enzyme". From 65438 to 0988, Colin Pitchfock became the first murderer sentenced on the basis of DNA fingerprint analysis, and DNA technology further developed forensic medicine. In 2006, Andrew Fire and Craig Melo won the Nobel Prize for discovering the silencing effect of RNA interference on gene expression. [ 1]
There are three main branches of biochemistry: general biochemical research includes common biochemical phenomena in animals and plants; Plant biochemistry mainly studies the specific biochemical processes of autotrophs and other plants; However, human or medical biochemistry focuses on the biochemical properties related to human beings and human diseases. [ 1]
material composition
Organisms are organized by certain substances according to strict rules and methods. The water content of human body is about 55-67%, protein 15- 18%, lipid10-5%, inorganic salt 3-4% and sugar 1-2%. From this analysis, besides water and inorganic salts, the human body is mainly composed of protein, lipids and sugars. In fact, in addition to these three categories, there are nucleic acids and a variety of small molecular compounds with biological activity, such as vitamins, hormones, amino acids and their derivatives, peptides, nucleotides and so on. Judging from the molecular type, it is more complicated. Take protein as an example. It is estimated that there are more than 65,438+000,000 protein molecules in the human body. Few of these protein molecules are the same as other organisms. Every living thing has its own unique protein, and it is a large and complex molecule. Other large and complex molecules, as well as nucleic acids, sugars, lipids, etc.; Their molecular species are not as many as those in protein, but they are also considerable. These large and complex molecules are called "biomolecules". Biology is not only composed of all kinds of biomolecules, but also of all kinds of small molecules with biological activity.