Molecules of Life Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice flashcards generated from the Chapter 1 through Chapter 6 lecture transcript on the molecules of life.

Dave Thomas

The founder of Wendy's who worked for Colonel Sanders at KFC and whose body was built from the amino acids, sugars, and lipids derived from food.

Carbon

An element with six protons and four valence electrons that serves as the foundation of life by forming stable, large carbon-based molecules.

Horta

A fictional giant rock-based animal from Star Trek that is based on silicon rather than carbon.

Functional Group

Clusters of atoms attached to carbon chains that give chemical behavior and functionality to biological molecules.

Carboxyl Group

A functional group abbreviated as $COOH$ that donates a hydrogen ion to form carboxylic acid and joins with amino groups to form amino acids.

Carbonyl Group

A functional group featuring a carbon double-bonded to oxygen, categorized as a ketone if in the middle of a molecule or an aldehyde if at the end.

Methyl Group

A functional group composed of a carbon bound to three hydrogens that can methylate large carbon compounds like DNA to make them non-functional.

Amino Group

A functional group containing nitrogen ($NH_2$) that acts as a base by grabbing hydrogen ions and combines with carboxyl groups to form amino acids.

Phosphate Group

A functional group present on the end of ATP and used in cellular energy transfer and DNA construction.

Hydroxyl Group

A functional group consisting of an $OH$ group that imparts polarity and makes molecules readily dissolvable.

Monomer

A small molecular building block that links together to form larger biological macromolecules called polymers.

Polymer

A large macromolecule constructed from repeating subunit monomers.

Dehydration Reaction

A chemical reaction that joins monomers together by removing a molecule of water ($H_2O$) to form a covalent bond.

Hydrolysis

A chemical reaction that breaks bonds in polymers into monomers by adding a molecule of water ($H_2O$).

Nucleic Acids

Biological polymers, such as DNA and RNA, that store cellular information or perform cellular work.

Nucleotide

The monomer subunit of nucleic acids, consisting of a base, a sugar, and a phosphate group.

Protein

A complex three-dimensional macromolecule composed of amino acid chains linked together and folded into characteristic functional shapes.

Amino Acid

The monomer building block of proteins, consisting of a central carbon and hydrogen, an amino group, a carboxyl group, and a variable side chain.

Side Chain (R Group)

The variable structure attached to the central carbon of an amino acid that differs among all 20 amino acids and determines their chemical properties.

Lipids

Macromolecules composed of hydrocarbon chains used for cellular energy storage and cell membrane construction.

Saturated Fat

A fat molecule with straight hydrocarbon chains fully surrounded by hydrogens and containing no double bonds, making it solid at room temperature.

Unsaturated Fat

A fat molecule containing double bonds in its hydrocarbon chain that introduce bends, preventing tight packing and keeping it liquid at room temperature.

Monosaccharide

A single sugar monomer unit, with glucose being the quintessential example.

Disaccharide

A carbohydrate composed of two linked sugar units, such as sucrose.

Polysaccharide

A large carbohydrate polymer composed of hundreds of sugar units bonded together, such as starch.