Macromolecules Research Paper

Isabella Ompok

Ms. Murad

Honors Biology

8 September 2015

Getting to Know Macromolecules

Macromolecules are large molecules that are made up of many smaller molecules and can be found in living things. They are formed through polymerization. Polymerization occurs when smaller molecules (monomers) join together to create larger molecules (polymers). Macromolecules are sorted by their chemical composition into the groups: carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins all of which are essential for living things to. The carbohydrates and lipids are needed for energy. But, carbohydrates are the main source of energy for living things, while, lipids mainly stores the energy. Proteins are used to build and maintain bones including muscle and

It can be categorized as fats, oils, or waxes. Lipids can give energy but its function is to mainly stores energy (in adipose cells). Other functions of lipids are to help the body absorb vitamins. It can also be an important part of biological membranes. It also serves as a chemical messenger in the body like hormones. There are many more things lipids can do. Such as, provide warmth for the body, protect the body, maintain vision and support the immune system. Lipids are formed when a glycerol molecule combines with the carbon in fatty acids. The carbon atoms in the acids combines with another carbon atom making the lipid saturated which means the fatty acid contains the maximum amount of hydrogen atoms. For a fatty acid to be unsaturated there is only one carbon double bond. Also, if a lipid contains a fatty acid that has more than one double bond, it is polyunsaturated which can be seen on various food labels. Foods containing lipids are different oils like (olive oil, canola oil, soybean etc.) nuts, fatty fruits (avocado), certain fish (tuna, salmon, sardines, herring, anchovies, mackerel) and egg

It is a polymer and is made of the monomers called nucleotides. The nucleotides or the monomers join together in a covalent bond to form nucleic acids. Specifically, there are different types of nucleotides that from nucleic acids: C (cytosine), A (adenine), G (guanine), T (thymine) and U (uracil). The different types of nucleic acids are ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA is made up of two strands of cytosine, adenine, guanine and thymine in a double helix pattern while RNA is a single strand of cytosine, adenine, guanine and uracil. These two nucleic acids are found in cells and the cell’s nucleus. In the body, nucleic acids play many important roles like capturing and transferring chemical energy. One of the most important nucleic acids has are storing and transmitting hereditary/genetic information from parent to their children. DNA mainly stores all genetic information of cells but some RNA stores information in viruses. DNA stores information on what cells should do such as its life cycle. RNA does things like extracting information from DNA for many different functions and can also regulate what some genes do. But, RNA mainly transfers the information. The different types of RNA transfer information to different places of the cell. One type, mRNA transfers information from the nucleus to the cytoplasm while tRNA transports information from amino acids