Summer bio

Monomer

One single building block molecule that can link up with others to form a larger molecule.

Polymer

A large molecule made of two or more monomers linked together in a chain.

Carbohydrate

A family of sugar molecules made up of Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), and Oxygen (O) that provide immediate energy.

Monosaccharide

A simple single-molecule sugar (e.g., Glucose, Fructose, Galactose, Ribose).

Disaccharide

A sugar molecule made of two simple sugars linked together (e.g., Sucrose).

Polysaccharide

A complex carbohydrate made of three or more sugars linked in chains (e.g., Starch and Cellulose in plants, Glycogen in animals).

Lipid

A tremendous energy source composed of carbon and hydrogen chains, used to store excess calories efficiently in adipose tissue.

Triglyceride

A lipid structure formed by one glycerol molecule linking three fatty acid chains together.

Saturated Fat

A type of animal fat that is solid at room temperature and has all carbon atoms fully saturated with hydrogens (no double bonds).

Unsaturated Fat

A plant fat that is liquid at room temperature and contains double bonds (missing some hydrogens), which creates bends in the chain.

Protein

Chains of amino acids linked together that are used to build and repair body structures, and act as chemical messengers.

Amino Acid

The building block of proteins; they all share the same general basic structure except for one portion called the R-group, which varies.

Essential Amino Acids

The 8 specific amino acids your body cannot make on its own and must obtain from food.

Nucleic Acid

Macromolecules (like DNA and RNA) that hold the instructions essential to all living things.

Nucleotide

The monomer unit of a nucleic acid, consisting of a nitrogenous base, a 5-carbon pentose sugar, and a phosphate group.

DNA

A double-stranded helix that contains the genetic code for all proteins and life functions.

RNA

A single-stranded copy of the code for one protein that carries the blueprint to the ribosome.

Gene

A specific sequence of nucleotides in DNA that codes for a particular protein.

Transcription

The first step of protein synthesis where DNA is unzipped and copied into a single strand of mRNA.

Translation

The final step of protein synthesis where mRNA is read by ribosomes to build an amino acid chain.

mRNA

The intermediate RNA molecule that acts as the mobile blueprint instruction for building a protein.

rRNA

The physical structural RNA that makes up the ribosome.

tRNA

The delivery molecules that carry the correct amino acids to the ribosome.

Codon

A triplet sequence of three nucleotides on the mRNA strand that encodes for a specific amino acid.

A Site

The first binding slot inside the ribosome where the incoming tRNA matches up with the mRNA codon.

P Site

The middle slot in the ribosome where the growing amino acid/protein chain is held and extended.

E Site

The final slot in the ribosome where the empty tRNA goes to leave the ribosome.

Enzyme

A specialized type of protein that acts as a biological catalyst to speed up biochemical reactions.

Catalyst

Any substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering the required activation energy.

Substrate

The specific reactant molecule(s) that an enzyme targets and binds to during a reaction.

Active Site

The specifically shaped region on the enzyme where the substrate attaches.

Enzyme-Substrate Complex

The temporary structure formed when an enzyme binds its substrate.

Activation Energy

The minimum amount of energy required to kickstart a chemical reaction.

Denaturation

A structural change where an enzyme loses its specific 3D shape, making its active site useless.