BMSC 200 Study Guide - Final Guide: Intermembrane Space, Globular Protein, Tooth Loss
Document Summary
Chapter 1: biochemistry and the unity of life. Limited systems require a variety of atoms and molecules. Organisms are remarkably uniform at the molecular level. This observation is usually referred to as the unity of biochemistry, but in reality, it illustrates the unity of life. Jacques monod said that anything found true to be in bacterium must also be true of elephants. This represents that all the organisms on earth have arisen from a common ancestor. 98% of the atoms in an organism are made up of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. Biological fuels, like the fuels that power machinery, react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. Carbon is uniquely suited for life, when compared to silicon, even though they both are able to form 4 covalent bonds (a property crucial to large molecules), carbon- Carbon bonds are way stronger than silicon-silicon bonds. More energy is released when carbon-carbon bonds undergo combustion, than when silicon reacts with oxygen.
