Macromolecules Research Paper

2. The carbon atom has four electrons in its outer shells, its electrons will readily form a covalent bond, it will readily bond with other carbon atoms, and will also share more than one electron with other atoms are three characteristics of the carbon atom that are important in forming organic compounds.

Atoms are the basic units of matter and all life is based on them. Life on earth is based on the element carbon. It is a highly versatile atom able to form four covalent bonds with itself or other atoms such as hydrogen and water. Atoms combine to form molecules and those that are carbon based are referred to as organic molecules. Organic molecules occur in four different types in living cells; carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. They are also known as hydrocarbons due to the presence of both hydrogen and carbon. Carbohydrates are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in the ratio 1:2:1. They are important sources of energy and are classified in three main groups; monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides.

The most common macromolecules found in living organisms are lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. Briefly, the meaning of macromolecules is that they normally contain two or more molecules in them and their main functions are to store energy, information and much more. Most foods are known to be combinations of macromolecules. While some of these compounds can be detected by taste tests, many cannot. Scientists then use certain tests to determine the presence of macromolecules.

Proteins are polymers made by joining up small molecules called amino acids. Amino acids and proteins are made mainly of the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

D)Nucleic Acids monomer(s) are called nucleotide. The functional group is dna(Deoxyribonucleic acid) and rna(Ribonucleic acid). The linkage type is covalent bonds and hydrogen bonds. The primary function of nucleic acid is to store and transfer genetic material.

Carbohydrates are macromolecules which and contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen (C,H,O). There are also two types of sugars, sweet soluble and starches which are non-soluble. Sugars can also be single or simple sugars.Carbohydrates can be found in a wide variety of foods such as pasta, wheat and grains, rice, potatoes, fruits and sugars. Carbohydrates are broken down into

Dehydration-synthesis is a reaction that occurs to form different types of macromolecules. It is a reaction that leaves a macromolecule structure along the lines of developing its own specific function in a living organism. The 4 most common ones are carbohydrates which includes monosaccharides and polysaccharides, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids (Mack 2012). Scientists identify different types of macromolecules to achieve a better understanding on how they function in our bodies. This can be achieved by studying their chemical properties and structure.

A macromolecule is a large molecule composed of small molecular units called monomers that are linked to together in long chains called polymers. Lipids are hydrophobic, non polar macromolecules that insulate organs, store energy, and make up cell membranes. Their monomers are called triglycerides. Proteins are another example of macromolecules. Made up of monomers called amino acids held together by peptide bonds, proteins provide structural support, defense, and cell regulation. The third macromolecule that is going to be tested for are carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, such as sugars and starches, are needed for energy storage and are made up of monomers called monosaccharides.

The chaperones have the main role of ensuring proper folding. When a chaperone protein becomes toxic, major changes in the conformation occur as the alpha helix becomes beta pleated sheets. The sheets now expose the hydrophobic amino acid and aggregation, or clumping together of sheets occurs (Borges, 2014).

Proteins are polymeric chains that are built from monomers called amino acids. All structural and functional properties of proteins derive from the chemical properties of the polypeptide chain. There are four levels of protein structural organization: primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary. Primary structure is defined as the linear sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide chain. The secondary structure refers to certain regular geometric figures of the chain. Tertiary structure results from long-range contacts within the chain. The quaternary structure is the organization of protein subunits, or two or more independent polypeptide chains.

Macromolecules are found in all life forms such as humans, animals and insects, different reagents can be used to find these macromolecules. Carbohydrates provide energy and support for humans and other organisms such as plant cells. The three types of carbohydrates are: disaccharides, monosaccharides and polysaccharides. Disaccharides form from two monosaccharides. Monosaccharides are simple sugars such as glucose. Polysaccharides are made up of long chains of monosaccharides. Substance such as glycogen and starch are good examples of polysaccharides. Proteins are found in most foods, they are in chains of amino acids. Lipids are classified as macromolecules that can usually be insoluble in water. They are made up of fats. Oils are a good

Bettelheim, Brown, Campbell and Farrell assert that polypeptide chains do not extend in straight lines but rather they fold in various ways and give rise to a large number of three-dimensional structures (594). This folding or conformation of amino acids in the localized regions of the polypeptide chains defines the secondary structure of proteins. The main force responsible for the secondary structure is the non-covalent

There are four types of biomolecules, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Carbohydrates are large chains of sugar found in food and living tissues. This includes sugars, starch, and cellulose. They have the same ratio of hydrogen and oxygen that water has, 2:1. They are broken down to release energy in the animal body. Lipids are any organic compounds that are fatty acids and don’t dissolve in water but do in organic solvents. Fatty acids can be found in natural oils, waxes, and steroids. Proteins are macromolecules that do everything in the cell. They are tools and machines that make things happen. Nucleic acids are long strands of nucleotides, and function primarily in storage and transmission of genetic information. There are two types of nucleic acids, DNA and RNA. DNA is the genetic material of all cellular organisms, and RNA sends out messages from the information that is held in the DNA.

These new formations are held together by hydrogen bonds. The third level is the tertiary structure. The tertiary structure of a protein is a contorted secondary structure being twisted and folded all out of shape to form a 3-d complex. The type of bonding that holds these formations together are weak interactions such as hydrophilic, hydrophobic, ionic, and hydrogen bonds. These bonds are individually weak, but collectively strong. The forth level, which completes a protein, is quaternary structure, which occurs when two or more tertiary structures are joined together by polypeptide bonds.

The term ‘’Carbohydrates’’ is defined as the carbon compounds which contains hydroxyl groups in large quantities (King, 2013). Carbohydrates are those organic compounds which have the empirical formula CnH2nOn, or (CH2O)n (Fromm 1997). Carbohydrates are one of the four types of organic compounds in living cells that are produces during photosynthesis and are the important source of energy in both plants and animals (Ahmed 2014). They are built from monosaccharides. These monosacchradies are the small molecules that consists of three to nine carbon atoms and differ in size and in the stereochemical configuration at one or more carbon centers. The simplest carbohydrates also contain either an aldehyde or ketone compounds (freeman 2002). Carbohydrates are classified as simple and complex carbohydrates. The classification of carbohtdydrates is based on the chemical structure of the food and how fast it absorbs. Simple carbohydrates contains single or double sugars in their chemical structure whereas complex carbohydrates consists of three or more sugars (ahmed 2014). There are four major types of carbohydrates depending on their chemical composition.