Biochemistry: DR - Radhwan M. Asal Bsc. Pharmacy MSC, PHD Clinical Biochemistry

Biochemistry
Lec:1
Dr.Radhwan M. Asal
Bsc. Pharmacy
MSC ,PhD Clinical Biochemistry
INTRODUCTION
Biochemistry can be defined as the science concerned with the
chemical basis of life . The cell is the structural unit of living systems.
Thus, biochemistry can also be described as the science concerned with
the chemical constituents of living cells and with the reactions and
processes they undergo.
By this definition, biochemistry encompasses large areas of cell
biology, of molecular biology, and of molecular genetics.
The aim of biochemistry is to describe & explain, in molecular
terms, all chemical processes of living cells .To achieve this objective,
biochemists have sought to isolate the numerous molecules found in
cells, determine their structures, and analyze how they function.
A Reciprocal Relationship Between Biochemistry & Medicine Has
Stimulated Mutual Advances
The two major concerns for workers in the health sciences and
particularly physicians are the understanding and maintenance of
health and the understanding and effective treatment of diseases.
Biochemistry impacts enormously on both of these fundamental
concerns of medicine. In fact, the interrelationship of biochemistry and
medicine is a wide( two way street).
Biochemical studies have illuminated many aspects of health and
disease, and conversely, the study of various aspects of health and
disease has opened up new areas of biochemistry.
Biochemical Research Has Impact on Nutrition &
Preventive Medicine
One major prerequisite for the maintenance of health is
that there be optimal dietary intake of a number of
chemicals; the chief of these are vitamins, certain amino
acids, certain fatty acids, various minerals, and water.
Because much of the subject matter of both biochemistry
and nutrition is concerned with the study of various
aspects of these chemicals, there is a close relationship
between these two sciences.
Moreover, more emphasis is being placed on systematic
attempts to maintain health and forestall disease, ie, on
preventive medicine. Thus, nutritional approaches to for
example the prevention of atherosclerosis and cancer are
receiving increased emphasis.
Most & Perhaps All Disease Has a Biochemical Basis
We believe that most if not all diseases are manifestations of
abnormalities of molecules, chemical reactions, or
biochemical processes.
In most of these conditions, biochemical studies contribute
to both the diagnosis and treatment.
Enzymes are macromolecular biological catalysts. Enzymes
accelerate, or catalyze, chemical reactions. The molecules at the
beginning of the process upon which enzymes may act are
called substrates and the enzyme converts these into different
molecules, called products. Almost all metabolic processes in
the cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates fast enough to sustain
life. The set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic
pathways occur in that cell. The study of enzymes is
called enzymology.
Enzymes are known to catalyze more than 5,000 biochemical reaction
types. Most enzymes are proteins, although a few are catalytic RNA
molecules.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule that carries the genetic
instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and
reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. DNA
and RNA are nucleic acids; proteins, lipids and complex carbohydrates
(polysaccharides), they are one of the four major types of
macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life. Most
DNA molecules consist of two biopolymer strands coiled around each
other to form a double helix.
The two DNA strands are termed polynucleotides since they are
composed of simpler monomer units called nucleotides.
Each nucleotide is composed of one of four nitrogen-containing
nucleobases either cytosine (C), guanine (G), adenine (A), and
thymine (T) and a sugar called deoxyribose and a phosphate
group. The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain by
covalent bonds between the sugar of one nucleotide and the
phosphate of the next, resulting in an alternating sugar-phosphate
backbone. The nitrogenous bases of the two separate
polynucleotide strands are bound together (according to base
pairing rules (A with T, and C with G) with hydrogen bonds to
make double-stranded DNA.

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