Characteristics that distinguish living creatures from inanimate objects - answer✔1. Chemically
complex and highly organized
2. extract and use energy (nutrients) from the environment and export end products of
metabolism (like CO2 exhale)
3. Have the capacity to precisely self-replicate and self assemble
what is the basic structural, functional and biological unit of life? - answer✔Cell
why do we say life is "information based"? - answer✔because - the genetic INFORMATION is
stored in within DNA. Various forms of life develop just depending on how that 'information' is
organized
What is a gene? - answer✔A unit sequence of nucleotides (900-2700) that encode the amino
acid sequence of a protein
What is the main function of organelles ? (Cytoplasm) - answer✔The inner substance of a cell.
The site of biochemical processes, including initial stages of glucose metabolism, fatty acid
synthesis and protein synthesis. ribosomes are found here floating
What is the main function of organelles ? (Plasma Membrane) - answer✔Barrier to extracellular
medium. Its function is to mitigate and to permit the entry and exit of molecules and
information
What is the main function of organelles ? ( Endoplasmic reticulum) - answer✔Series of
membraneous sacs (2)
Rough - ribosomes make it rough as they attach to the sacs. This is where proteins are made
and folded
Smooth - where Ca+2 is stored and released for muscle contraction; where lipids are
synthesized in the liver; and where CHO are attached to proteins
What is the main function of organelles ? (golgi apparatus) - answer✔"Sac-like membrane
vesicles" - packaging proteins for secretion by budding off vesicles
What is the main function of organelles ? (nucleus) - answer✔where DNA and RNA and
Ribosomes are synthesized. Contains cell's genome, known as "information center" of cell.
what is a ribosome? - answer✔NOT and organelle. It is a macromolecule comprised of RNA and
proteins. They bind messenger RNA (mRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA) to synthesized
polypeptides and proteins.
What is the main function of organelles ? (lysosome) - answer✔"recycling bin" of the cell. Bag
of hydrolytic enzymes to degrade old proteins and other biochemicals that cell is not using
1. within cells - digest old proteins and those not in use
2. outside of cells - contents secreted to remodel bones
What is the main function of organelles ? (mitochondria) - answer✔POWERHOUSE OF THE
CELL. Where aerobic metabolism (requires O2) takes place fro synthesis of ATP.
Mitochondria - answer✔Contains DNA metric in addition with protein enzymes (encodes 5% of
the protein RNA of mitochondrion {to make protein you need RNA}
- they can replicate without muscle dividing cell
What are signs that mitochondria went under endosymbiosis - answer✔Bacterial DNA =
circular. Eukaryotic DNA = linear.
- DNA in mitochondria indicates that it originated from an endosymbiotic relationship because
it is circular shaped - though to be a relationship between an anaerobe and an invading aerobic
bacteria
- Also they can divide independently from the cell cycle by simple fission
-THey also have their own membranes
what is the central dogma of molecular biology? - answer✔information flows from DNA to RNA
to protein
what makes carbon unique in biological compounds ? - answer✔- Carbon has 4 valence
electrons so it can share each of its valence electrons with a val e- of another atom to make a
covalent bond
- Carbon can form 4 strong covalent bonds in many different arrangements (straight, cyclic, and
branched systems)
What are the principal elements forming covalent bonds to carbon? - answer✔Hydrogen,
oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphouorus
What are the principal ions in biological fluids? - answer✔Na+, K+, Ca+2, Cl-
What is the "matrix" of life? - answer✔Water (H2O), takes up most of the mass of a cell
What are the four most abundant elements in the cell? - answer✔Carbon
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
What are the features of a saturated carbon bond? - answer✔Saturated C bonds are when
Carbon is only connected to other elements via single bonds.
- Saturated bonds are tetrahedral and can rotate
What are the features of unsaturated carbon (C=C) or double bonds? - answer✔Double or triple
bonds between carbons.
These unsaturated bonds have cis/trans geometry and cannot rotate freely.
What are the four classes of bio/marcomolecules? - answer✔proteins
nucleic acids
polysaccharides
lipids
What are the names of macromolecules monomers and polymers? - answer✔Amino Acids ->
Proteins
Nucleotides -> Nucleic Acids
Monosaccharides -> Polysaccharides
No typical monomer(fatty acid is closest) -> Lipids
What are the macromolecules structures and major functions? - answer✔Proteins - Cell
structure, enzyme(catalysis), control gene expression, transport, cell motility, defense
Polysaccharides - energy storage, structural elements, cell communication
Lipids - energy storage, cell membrane, diverse functions
What are the anomalous properties of water, what are they due to? - answer✔- Usually high
density and high BP
- Density decreases upon entering the solid phase (freezing)
These are due to hydrogen bonding (H BONDING) - which is the defining feature of water
What is electronegativity? - answer✔is a measure of an atom's attraction for electrons it shares
in a chemical bond with another atom.
What elements are more electronegative? Do C-H share equally? How about O-H and N-H? -
answer✔Most electronegative elements and - Florine, Oxygen and Nitrogen.
The C-H bond share basically the same EN
however, the O-H and N-H bonds do NOT
What is polarity? - answer✔is the separation of electric charge leading to a molecule or its
chemical groups having an electric dipole or multipole moment
What is dipole? - answer✔(in a polar molecule) The electrons are NOT shared equally between
the atoms of the polar group, forming a dipole
What is "amphipathic" molecule? - answer✔a molecule with both polar and non polar
characteristics
non polar ............ polar
(CH3-(CH2)13-CH2-COOH
Can you tell a functional group is polar or non-polar? - answer✔In a polar molecule - the
electrons are NOT shared equally between atoms of the plan group, forming a dipole ( C-O)
4|Page
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