Chemistry of life Vocabulary

Hormone

• any member of a class of signaling molecules, produced by glands in multicellular organisms, that are transported by the circulatory system to target distant organs to regulate physiology and behavior.

• a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that can later be released to fuel the organisms' activities.

• the building blocks of body tissue and can also serve as a fuel source.

Protein

• the building blocks of body tissue and can also serve as a fuel source

• a thin polar membrane made of two layers of lipid molecules

• breakdown of glucose by enzymes, releasing energy and pyruvate acid

Nucleic acid

• A complex organic substance present in living cells, especially DNA or RNA, whose molecules consist of many nucleotide linked in a long chain.

• a process by which cells duplicate their contents and then divide to yield two cells with similar, if not duplicate, contents.

• a substance produced by a living organism which acts as a catalyst to bring about a specific biochemical reaction.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

• a compound consisting of an adenosine molecule bonded to three phosphate groups, present in all living tissue.

• a simple organic compound containing both a carboxyl (—COOH) and an amino (—NH2) group.

• breakdown of glucose by enzymes, releasing energy and pyruvic acid.

Chromosomes

• Clumps of dna that instructs cells on what to do

• the process that occurs when the chemical energy of "food" molecules, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, is released and partially captured in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

• a complex organic substance present in all living cells composed of a sugar, a base compound, and a phosphate group; includes both DNA and RNA

DNA

• composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses.

• medium or environment upon which an organism lives

• a chemical compound that is able to store and transport chemical energy within cells

gene expression

• the appearance in a phenotype of a characteristic or effect attributed to a particular gene.

• the minimum quantity of energy which the reacting species must possess in order to undergo a specified reaction.

• the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.

Cellular Respiration

• a set of metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert biochemical energy from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate, and then release waste products

• are organic compounds that contain amine and carboxyl functional groups, along with a side chain specific to each amino acid.

• composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses.

Enzyme

• are macromolecular biological catalysts that accelerate chemical reactions.

• a chemical compound that is able to store and transport chemical energy within cells

• The minimum quantity of energy which the reacting species must possess in order to undergo a specified reaction.

Liquid

• A state of matter which has a fixed volume.

• a single circular chromosome.

• a chemical compound that is able to store and transport chemical energy within cells