Importance Of Macromolecules

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A macromolecule is defined as a “cell which joins smaller organic molecules together to form larger molecules”. There are four macromolecules which enables the structure and function of life to occur, which includes carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. Out of the three macromolecules, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids, they form a chainlike molecular structure called “polymers”, linked together by covalent bonds such as a “dehydration reaction” (removing a water molecule and forming a new bond) and “hydrolysis” (adding the water molecule and breaking a bond). These polymers range in variety and can be built from a small set of monomers, 40-50 common monomers and other rarer ones, composed in various combinations.
The reason …show more content…

In nucleic acids, they are the building blocks for life, consisting of “genes” which allows the process of gene expression to occur.
A lipid is a “compound(s) based on fatty acids or closely related compounds such as the corresponding alcohols and the sphingosine bases” (Gunstone , 1996). They contribute to the survival of an organism by its use to store energy and insulate the body, which is necessary. These lipids that controls this are known as “triacylglycerol” (also called triglycerol).
Triacylglycerol is mainly composed of glycerol and fatty acids. Glycerol is an alcohol, containing a “carbon atom carrying two CH2OH (hydroxyl) groups” (Gunstone , 1996). Fatty acids contain an 18 or 16 carbon atom skeleton, having a hydrocarbon chain and carboxyl group on the skeleton. A triacylglycerol is constructed from a dehydration reaction from a OH molecule and a OH molecule, in fatty acids. This results in an Ester linkage between the carboxyl group and the hydroxyl group, and the formation of either solid triacylglycerol (fats) or liquid triacylglycerol (oils). Due to the “relatively non-polar C-H bond in the hydrocarbon chains of fatty acids” (Reece, et al., 2011) they are …show more content…

James Watson and Francis Crick, the discoverers of the 3-D structure of the double helix, concluded this, which was further concluded by the experiments of Erwin Chargaff. Chargaff acknowledged that the “number of adenine and thymine relative to the number of guanine and cytosine” (Bruice, 2007) are unique and different from one species to another. DNA allows the replication of its own material and most importantly guides RNA

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