Biology Practice Flashcards - Una Biología Para Todos

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering basic biochemistry, cell biology, metabolism, genetics, and immunology based on the 'Una Biología Para Todos' transcript.

Primary Bioelements

Chemical elements present in large quantities ($96-98\%$ of organism weight), essential for forming biomolecules, specifically $C$, $H$, $O$, $N$, $P$, and $S$.

Trace Elements (Oligoelementos)

Chemical elements present in living beings in amounts lower than $0.1\%$ (trace) or $0.001\%$ (ultratrace), fundamental for functions such as catalysis, including $Mn$, $Fe$, $Co$, $Cu$, $Zn$, $I$, $Si$, and $Cr$.

Hydrogen Bond

An electrostatic attraction between water molecules caused by the dipolical nature of $H_2O$, where the negative oxygen area ($\delta^-$) of one molecule attracts the positive hydrogen area ($\delta^+$) of another.

Specific Heat

The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a substance; water has a high value because energy is used to break hydrogen bonds rather than increasing temperature.

Osmosis

The process by which a solvent (water) passes through a semipermeable membrane from a more dilute (hypotonic) solution to a more concentrated (hypertonic) one to equalize concentrations.

Monosaccharides

The simplest carbohydrates, non-hydrolyzable, containing between $3$ and $7$ carbon atoms, and functioning as structural or energy units.

Disaccharides

Carbohydrates formed by the union of two monosaccharides via an O-glycosidic bond, such as sucrose, lactose, and maltose.

Saponifiable Lipids

Lipids that contain fatty acids and can form soaps, including simple types (acylglycerols, waxes) and complex types (phospholipids, sphingolipids).

Amphipathic

A property of molecules, like phospholipids and fatty acids, that possess a polar hydrophilic region and an apolar hydrophobic region.

Amino Acids

The structural units or monomers of proteins, composed of an alpha carbon ($\alpha$) joined to an amino group ($-NH_2$), a carboxyl group ($-COOH$), a hydrogen atom, and a variable radical ($-R$).

Peptide Bond

A covalent bond formed between the carboxyl group of one amino acid and the amino group of another with the loss of one $H_2O$ molecule.

Protein Denaturation

The loss of secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure due to pH or temperature changes, leading to the loss of protein functionality.

Holoenzyme

A functional enzyme consisting of a protein part (apoenzyme) associated with a non-protein component (cofactor or coenzyme).

Nucleotide

The monomer of nucleic acids, consisting of a five-carbon sugar (pentose), a nitrogenous base, and a phosphoric acid molecule.

DNA Double Helix Model

A structure proposed by Watson and Crick where two antiparallel and complementary polynucleotide chains are coiled coaxially in a dextrohelical manner.

Fluid Mosaic Model

A membrane structure model proposed by Singer and Nicholson in $1972$, describing a lipid bilayer with integral and peripheral proteins and external carbohydrates (glycocalyx).

Passive Transport

The movement of substances across the membrane without energy expenditure, following the concentration gradient, including simple and facilitated diffusion.

Replication

A semiconservative and bidirectional process occurring during the $S$ phase of the cell cycle to produce two identical copies of the DNA.

Mitosis

A type of cell division in somatic cells that produces two daughter cells with identical genetic information to the mother cell, involving Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, and Telophase.

Meiosis

A cell division process in germ cells that reduces the chromosome number from diploid ($2n$) to haploid ($n$), generating four genetically different daughter cells.

Glycolysis

The sequence of reactions that converts one molecule of glucose into two molecules of pyruvic acid in the cytosol, with a net yield of $2\text{ ATP}$.

Krebs Cycle

A central oxidative metabolic pathway occurring in the mitochondrial matrix that converts Acetyl-CoA into $CO_2$, producing $3\text{ NADH}$, $1\text{ FADH}_2$, and $1\text{ GTP}$ per turn.

Photosynthesis

An anabolic process where light energy is used to synthesize organic matter from inorganic substances, consisting of light-dependent and light-independent (Calvin Cycle) phases.

Allele

Each of the different alternative forms that a gene can present.

Genotype

The set of genes possessed by an individual organism.

Phenotype

The visible manifestation of the genotype, influenced by the environment.

Transcription

The synthesis of an RNA chain using a DNA strand as a template, catalyzed by RNA polymerase.

Genetic Code

The universal and degenerate system of correspondence between mRNA codons (triplets) and specific amino acids.

Virus

An acellular organism basically constituted by proteins and one type of nucleic acid, acting as an obligatory intracellular parasite.

Antigen

A foreign substance capable of triggering an immune response, characterized by an active region called an epitope.

Antibodies (Immunoglobulins)

Y-shaped glycoproteins produced by B-lymphocytes (plasma cells) that bind specifically to antigens to eliminate them.

Vaccination

A preventive process of introducing inactivated antigens into a healthy body to trigger the synthesis of antibodies and memory cells (active artificial immunity).

Serotherapy

A curative process of administering a serum containing specific antibodies to an infected organism (passive artificial immunity).