Biochemistry Facts
Biochemistry Facts
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| Interesting Biochemistry Facts: |
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| The origin of biochemistry may have first occurred when Anselme Payen discovered the enzyme in 1833, and the field of study is often attributed to Payen's research. |
| The enzyme, then called diastase but now known as amylase, was the first proof that chemical reactions take place within the bodies of living things. |
| The first experiment in modern-day biochemistry may have been the process by which Friedrich Wohler synthesized urea from inorganic compounds. |
| Eduard Buchner contributed to further understanding of the chemical reactions of living things in 1896 when he experimented with alcohol fermentation in relation to cell extracts in yeast. |
| Since those early experiments, research into various areas of biochemistry has yielded our understanding of cellular reproduction, genes and heredity, the mapping of the human genome, and so much more. |
| Biochemistry plays an important role in the field of forensic science, allowing criminal investigators to seek out criminal based on DNA evidence; the first person convicted of a crime through DNA evidence didn't take place until 1988. |
| Although there are ninety-two naturally occurring elements, only about twenty-four of them are necessary to living things. Most of the incredibly rare or non-naturally occurring elements are obviously not important to biological life. |
| Through biochemistry, scientists have been able to determine that ninety-nine percent of the human body's mass is made up of only six elements: hydrogen, carbon, calcium, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus. |
| Biochemistry largely deals with the four main classes of molecules that are present in living things: carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. |
| These are often referred to as biomolecules and are made up of polymers formed by monomers that have linked together through dehydration synthesis. |
| Biochemistry plays an important role in other biological sciences, including genetics, molecular biology, biophysics, and chemical biology. |
| New applications are being studied that utilize biochemistry techniques for the pharmaceutical industry, gene therapy, gene suppression, and more. |
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