The protein I chose was Collagen. The code was PDB-101. Collagen is a critical protein to human life, one fourth of all the proteins in the human body are collagen. It is a structural protein that gives resilience to muscles and tendons, and creates sheets to support our skin and internal organs. Collagen is composed of three chains, which are tightly wound together making up the collagen triple helix; it a relatively simple protein. Every third amino acid in the chain is a glycine, which is vital because it is a very small amino acid that fits perfectly into the helix, helping make it so resilient. Vitamin C, and hydroxyproline are crucial for collagen to be a stable molecule. If one does not get the necessary amount of vitamin C in our diets and develop a deficiency, it will slow the production of hydroxyproline and stop the production of collagen. This causes the disease state known as scurvy. When an individual has scurvy, they can lose their teeth and bruise quite easily due to this lack of collagen which would normal fix the everyday wear on the body. On a lesser scale, loss of collagen production as the normal aging process occurs allow the skin, especially on the face to wrinkle and lose its elastic recoil. There are many cremes, serums, and facial treatments coming onto the market to help boost natural collagen production to help maintain firm, youthful skin.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
What is biochemistry, and how does it differ from the fields of genetics, biology, chemistry, and molecular biology?
The fields of biochemistry, genetics, biology, chemistry, and molecular biology tend to overlap, their chief differences involve which aspects of science each field focuses on. Biochemistry is the study of chemical substances and processes that occur in living organisms. It focuses on the function, role, and structure of different biomolecules. Genetics studies the effect that genetic differences have on different organisms. It focuses on genetic variability, genetic interactions, inheritance, and how these factors are expressed and effect organisms. Molecular biology focuses on the molecular foundation of the processes of replication, transcription, and translation of an organisms genetic material. Chemistry studies the composition, structure, properties, and the reactions of matter- focusing heavily on atomic and molecular systems. Biology studies life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, and evolution.
There is no hard line between biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, but to put the differences in broad simplistic terms: biochemistry in large part focuses on the relationship between proteins and their functions, molecular biology focuses on the relationship between proteins and genes, whereas genetics focuses on the relationship between genes and their functions.
There is no hard line between biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, but to put the differences in broad simplistic terms: biochemistry in large part focuses on the relationship between proteins and their functions, molecular biology focuses on the relationship between proteins and genes, whereas genetics focuses on the relationship between genes and their functions.
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