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Large Molecules In the Structure And Functioning Of Cells Essay examples

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Large Molecules In the Structure And Functioning Of Cells

Large biological molecules are found in all cells, in plant and animals cells too. There are many different large biological molecules such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids which are all extremely important to the functioning and structure of living cells. We would not be alive if any of these groups were missing. This signifies their importance.

Carbohydrates contain three elements. Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H) and Oxygen (O) Carbohydrates are found in three forms. Monosaccharide, Disaccharides (both sugars), and Polysaccharides. Disaccharides and glycosydic bonds are formed when two monosaccharide are condensed together. …show more content…

Triglycerides are made up of 3 fatty acid chains attached to a glycerol molecule. In the fatty acid chains the carbon atoms may have single bonds between them making the lipid saturated. These are usually solid at room temperature and are called fats. If one or more bonds between the carbon atoms are double bonds, the lipid is unsaturated. These are usually liquid at room temperature and are called oils.

Proteins:There about 20 different amino acids that all have a similar chemical structure but behave in very different ways because they have different side groups. Hence, stringing them together in different combinations produces very different proteins.

Each amino acid has an amino group (NH2) and a carboxylic acid group (COOH). The R group is a different molecule in different amino acids which can make them neutral, acidic, alkaline, aromatic (has a ring structure) or sulphur-containing.

When 2 amino acids are joined together (condensation) the amino group from one and the acid group from another form a bond, producing one molecule of water. The bond formed is called a peptide bond.

Primary structure of proteins -----------------------------

The primary structure depends on the order and number of amino acid For e.g. Haemoglobin is made up of 4 polypeptide chains, each with a haemoglobin group attached. There are 146 amino acids in each chain. If just one of these is

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