Intro to Biology

A periodic table provides information about any element, look at the image.
The atomic number is the number of PROTONS and ELECTRONS, they are the same in a neutral element.

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Understanding elements

The atomic weight (some use atomic mass (AM/AW), is the sum of the number of protons and number of neutrons:
AM = #protons + #neutrons

​In the image we can see
196.97 = 79 + #N, using math we can find #N as:
#N = 196.97 - 79 --> 117.97 rounded as 118 Neutrons.

Understanding elements

Elements can bind together to form compounds, and the smallest part of a compound is known as molecule.

​In living things we define them as biomolecules and the main and common element will be Carbon (C)
The main four are:
Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic Acid.

Elements relations

Provide calories and Energy. There are three types:
Sugars
Starch
Fiber

They are essential for the functioning of the nervous system, the health of the intestines, and the production of energy.

Carbohydrates

Lipids also known as fats, help maintain the cell structure, provide protection to organs, provide energy, help to absorb vitamins and production of other biomolecules.
Examples are:
Cholesterol, the Good one is HDL, the bad one is LDL.
Lipids help with the production of hormones, which are vital in the development of the body.
The liver is one organ that helps with the process of controlling and maintaining lipids.

Lipids

Proteins include enzyme, antibody, and many other important compounds in living things. They contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Functions of proteins are very numerous. They help cells keep their shape, compose muscles, speed up chemical reaction, and carry messages and materials. The monomers that make up large protein compounds are called amino acid. There are 20 different amino acids that combine into long chains (called polypeptides) to form the building blocks of a vast array of proteins in living things. Our body get proteins from food and our body uses a combination of amino acids to create the chains, which is the base for our DNA structure.

Proteins

Nucleic acids include the molecules DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid). They contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Their functions in living things are to encode instructions for making proteins, to help make proteins, and to pass instructions between parents and offspring.
Those are the base of our genetic structure.
DNA is a full helix combining four amino acids:
Thymine and Adenine (They pair together)
Guanine and Cytosine (They pair together)

RNA is one single chain and contains all our body information, in RNA the amino acid Thymine is known as Uracil.
Nucleic acids are made of nitrogen-containing bases, phosphate groups, and sugar molecules. Each type of nucleic acid has a distinctive structure and plays a different role in our cells.

Nucleic Acids

Each nucleotide consists of three smaller molecules:

1. a sugar molecule (the sugar deoxyribose in DNA and the sugar ribose in RNA)

2. a phosphate group

3. a nitrogen base

DNA means double, that is the reason some names in the molecules of the DNA starts with deo (two).

Nucleic Acids