Exam Prep: Biochemistry, Astrobiology, and Cellular Biology

Practice vocabulary flashcards covering chemical bonding, planetary habitability, degenerate states of matter, biological macromolecules, and molecular biology fundamentals.

Isotope

An atom of the same chemical element that has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons.

Ionic bonds

Strong bonds involving electron transfer that are critical for maintaining the 3-dimensional shape of proteins in extreme salt-concentrated environments.

Covalent bonds

Strong bonds involving electron sharing that form the backbone of organic molecules (DNA, RNA, proteins, and cell membranes) in extreme heat environments.

Negative melting curve

The property where the melting point of ice decreases as pressure increases, which melts ice, unlocks subsurface oceans, keeps icy moons liquid, and creates habitable zones.

Plasma

A hot ionized gas that does not contain molecules, created by heating molecules to extremely high temperatures and found in the Sun and lightning.

Degenerate matter

A collection of free, non-interacting particles (Fermi-gas/degenerate gas) consisting of a mixture of ions and electrons.

White dwarfs

Objects in which gravity is balanced by electron degeneracy pressure as atoms are crushed together, stripping elements from nuclei.

Neutron stars

Objects where gravity crushes matter so intensely that protons and electrons are forced together into a soup of pure neutrons.

Black holes

Astronomical objects formed where matter collapses entirely past an event horizon.

CHNOPS

The chemical elements Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur, which form stable biological bonds with similar linking energies.

Enantiomers

Two distinct mirror-image versions (left-handed and right-handed forms) of a chiral molecule whose 3D spatial arrangements are flipped.

Phospholipid bilayer

A self-assembling membrane structure formed when phospholipids are placed in water, composed of hydrophilic regions and hydrophobic fatty acid tails.

Gram-positive bacteria

Bacteria characterized by possessing a single membrane.

Gram-negative bacteria

Bacteria characterized by possessing two membranes.

Ribosome

A cellular machine consisting of two subunits that remain separate in the cytoplasm until joining to lock around mRNA and begin translation.

Transcription

The process where RNA polymerase binds to a promoter region on DNA, unwinds the strands, matches RNA nucleotides to the DNA template, and releases the primary transcript.