Biochemistry Archives - Planet Biologia

Spectrophotometer – working principle and solved problems in biology-1

Research in molecular biology has been significantly accelerated by the innovative methodologies of estimation of biomolecules such as spectrophotometer. Therefore it is very much essential to know the quantifiable property of the molecule which can give us numerical value of the amount of the molecules present in the solution and help us in its estimation.

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Spectrophotometer uses specific wavelength to estimate biomolecules concentration.

PCR – Principle, definition, history, components and applications

Principle of Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): This method is analogous to in-vivo DNA replication as it uses DNA polymerase which catalyses the polymerisation at the free 3’OH end of the primer bound to the template DNA.

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Amplification of specific DNA fragment by using PCR

What is molecular weight?

Being a ratio, the quantity of the molecular weight or relative molecular mass (Mr) is dimension less. Here the molecular weight is expressed relative to the mass of carbon-12 isotope.

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Ways of expressing molecular weight and molecular mass

pH of water and biochemical considerations-2

Constantly changing pH of the water and other biological fluids pose a big challenge in maintaining the healthy and constant growth habit of an individual. With the evolution of millions of years most of the surviving life forms have adapted a peculiar mechanisms to mitigate the serious consequences occurring due to change in pH.

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Accumulation of H+ ions and change in pH of water across membranes drives the ATP synthesis

pH of water and its biochemical considerations-1

One of the most important biomolecules are amino acid, which consists of a population of 20 types of side chains. pH of water makes amino acid side chains undergo protonation or de-protonation leading to differential charge profile of amino acids at different pH.

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Change in pH of water changes chemical properties of solutes

Arthur Kornberg: A doctor who found a knitting enzyme

During the same time ‘how living organisms reproduce’ was one of the greatest mystery. Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty along with other eminent scientists showed that DNA is THE chemical which transfers the genetic information over the generations and no any other molecule in 1944 but no one knew if the DNA is made by any enzyme. It was also known from the contribution of Erwin Chargaff that amount of adenine always equalled to that of thymine and amount of guanine always equalled to the amount of cytosine in any DNA sample. After knowing the DNA is a genetic material, ‘how DNA is made’ was still a mystery. No one had a clue how the DNA is made.

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Catalysis: a chemical bedrock of biology

There are synthetic or inorganic and biological catalysts. Enzymes are biologically most important catalysis. They are extraordinarily better than synthetic or inorganic catalysts in terms of their specificity and the environment in which they can function. According to some scientists catalysis is second most crucial aspect of life after the ability of the cells to reproduce and produce the replica.

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Catalysis helps reduce the energy and time of reaction

Activation energy (Ea) of reactions

EVERY REACTION needs an input of the certain amount of energy for the activation of the reaction. Hence that certain amount of energy required for a particular reaction is called as an ACTIVATION ENERGY. And the state at which the bonds have highest amount of energy, are highly unstable and prone to breakage is called as TRANSITION STATE of the reaction.

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Catalysis manifests by reducing activation energy and thereby reducing total time of reaction producing required amount of the metabolite.

Glucose oxidation: an unpacking of energy

Glucose is six carbon molecule and is oxidised in stepwise manner. The process of breaking down of glucose or glucose oxidation is called glycolysis. Glucose is phosphorylated before it is oxidised as the cell membrane is impermeable to the glucose-6-phosphate. The glycolysis pathway has been evolved to extract maximum amount of energy stored in glucose molecule.

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Photosynthesis: embedding sunlight in the food

Photosynthesis is defined as the synthesis of carbohydrate that reduces and fixes atmospheric CO2 by using the energy from electromagnetic radiations from visible spectrum of the sun. The process take place in plant leaves, in a specialised organelle called chloroplast. They are named so because they contain the chlorophyll, the pigment that has the special power of capturing the energy of sunlight for all of us.

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