Chapter 2 Synthetic Biology Flashcards
What is the most abundant molecule in biological systems
Water- understanding biology at a molecular level requires understanding of it
Importance of water seen in historical origins of measurement units like Celsius scale Original definition of calorie Gram Kilocalories
Mass temperature and energy
Melting point of water = 0degrees Celsius
: amount of energy needed to raise one gram of water 1 degree
Weight of 1 ml of ice water
Amount of energy required to raise temperature of 1kg of water 1 degree Celsius
Why do the properties of water differ from most organic solvents almost as strong as
Small molecule that forms up to 4 hydrogen bonds with other water molecules Covalent bonds (connect atoms in single molecule)
When do hydrogen bonding properties become especially important
The bonds become
Does it become more or less dense
Water freezes
More fixed
Less
Ice freezing in a river
Freezes at top and creates thermally insulating water
DNA is a polymer which is
Why is it different
Each base forms a specific set of ….. bonds with only one of other bases (name the pairs of nucelotides)
Chain of smaller molecules chemically linked together
Chemically distinct monomers linked together in particular sequence
Hydrogen
A-T
C-G
Two DNA strands that have correct complementary sequence can
Bind together to form a double stranded DNA supramolecule
Propteins are the same as DNA in that
Polymer and composed of linear sequence of smaller units or monomers covalently linked together
A short polymer of amino acids is called a
Longer chains are
Peptide
Protein
What are the monomeric units of proteins and how are they linked together
Amino acids
Linked together in peptides by peptide bond
Lipids
Molecule not soluble in water
A biological lipid
Phospholipids
Commercial lipids
Butter
Saturated fat
Vegetable oil
What is different in lipids than polymers
Much smaller
Polar head group linked to two alkyl chains
Alkyl water fearing
Polar hydrophilic : water loving
What are the bonds between lipids and what does this allow
Held together by weaker intermolecular interactions
Remain fluid
Variety of things diffuse
