From Atoms To Medicine

Practice flashcards based on key concepts from the lecture on atoms to medicine.

What are the two major concerns for physicians?

Understanding and maintenance of health, and understanding and effective treatment of diseases.

How can health be defined?

A situation in which intra- and extracellular reactions are proceeding at rates commensurate with the organism's maximal survival.

What are the distinctive properties of living systems?

Living systems can grow, move, perform metabolism, respond to stimuli, and replicate with fidelity.

What elements constitute more than 99% of the atoms in the human body?

Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen.

Why is carbon prevalent in biomolecules?

Due to its unparalleled versatility in forming stable covalent bonds.

What are the two relevant themes of life that emerge from the structure and organization of biomolecules?

Information and Energy.

What is the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology?

The flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA to proteins.

What two fundamental types of biological information are there?

The digital information of the genome and the environmental information.

What fundamental life processes does systems biology attempt to understand?

Evolution, development, and physiology.

What is the role of macromolecules in encoding biological information?

Macromolecules contain the information that specifies life and translate this information into functional structures.