Biochemistry terms
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| 128869866 | matter | Anything that has mass and takes up space. | |
| 128869867 | element | The simplest form of matter. | |
| 128869868 | atom | The smallest form of an element that still displays its unique properties. | |
| 128869869 | cation | Ion with a positive charge that contains more protons than electrons. | |
| 128869870 | anion | Ion with a negative charge that contains more electrons than protons. | |
| 128869871 | compounds | Elements are combined to form entities called compounds. | |
| 128869872 | organic compounds | Carbon-containing compounds. Important examples include carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. | |
| 128869873 | inorganic compounds | For the most part, compounds containing no carbon. There are some exceptions such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and others. | |
| 128869874 | carbohydrate | Organic compound used by the cells of the human body in energy-producing reactions and as structural material. The three main types of carbohydrates are monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. | |
| 128869875 | protein | Organic compound composed of chains of amino acids that function as structural components, transport aids, enzymes, and cell signals, among other things. | |
| 128869876 | lipids | Hydrophobic organic compounds used by cells as energy stores or building blocks. Three important lipids are fats, steroids, and phospholipids. | |
| 128869877 | nucleic acid | Macromolecule composed of nucleotides, sugars, and phosphates that serve as genetic material of living organisms (DNA and RNA). | |
| 128869878 | functional groups | The groups responsible for the chemical properties of organic compounds. | |
| 128869879 | fats | Lipids, made by combining glycerol and fatty acids, used as long-term energy stores in cells. They can be saturated or unsaturated. | |
| 128869880 | oil | Type of lipid. | |
| 128869881 | steroids | Lipids composed of four carbon rings. Examples include cholesterol, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. | |
| 128869882 | phospholipid | Lipid with both a hydrophobic tail and a hydrophillic head; the major component of cell membranes with the hydrophilic phosphate group forming the outside portion and the hydrophobic tail forming the interior of the wall. | |
| 128869883 | glycerol | Three-carbon molecule that combines with fatty acids to produce a variety of lipids. | |
| 128869884 | fatty acid | Long carbon chain that contains a carboxyl group on one end that combines with glycerol molecules to form lipids. | |
| 128869885 | saturated fat | Fat that contains no double bonds. It is associated with heart disease and atherosclerosis. | |
| 128869886 | unsaturated fat | Fat that contains one or more double bonds; found in plants. | |
| 128869887 | monosaccharide | The simplest form of a carbohydrate. The most important monosaccharide is glucose, which is used in cellular respiration to provide energy for cells. | |
| 128869888 | disaccharide | A sugar consisting of two monosaccharides bound together. Common disaccharides include sucrose, maltose, and lactose. | |
| 128869889 | polysaccharide | A carbohydrate usually composed of hundreds or thousands of monosaccharides, which acts as a storage form of energy, and as structural material in and around cells. Starch and glycogen are storage polysaccharides; cellulose and chitin are structural polysaccharides. | |
| 128869890 | starch | Storage polysaccharide made of glucose molecules; seen in plants. | |
| 128869913 | glycogen | Storage polysaccharide made of glucose molecules used by animals. | |
| 128869914 | cellulose | Polysaccharide composed of glucose used by plants to form cell walls. | |
| 128869915 | chitin | Polysaccharide that is an important part of the exoskeletons of arthropods such as insects, spiders, and shellfish. | |
| 128869916 | enzymes | Catalytic proteins that are picky, interacting only with particular substrates. However, the enzymes can be reused and react with more than one copy of their substrate of choice and have a major effect on a reaction. | |
| 128869917 | catalysts | Molecules that speed up reactions by lowering the activation energy of a reaction. | |
| 128869918 | substrates | Substances that enzymes act upon. | |
| 128869919 | active site | Part of the enzyme that interacts with the substrate in an enzyme-substrate complex. | |
| 128869920 | induced-fit model | Theory that suggests that when an enzyme and a substrate bind together, the enzyme is induced to alter its shape for a tighter active-site/substrate attachment, which places the substrate in a favorable position to react more quickly. | |
| 128869921 | competitive inhibition | Condition in which an inhibitor molecule resembling the substrate binds to the active site and physically blocks the substrate from attaching. | |
| 128869922 | noncompetitive inhibition | Condition in which an inhibitor molecule binds to an enzyme away from the active site, causing a change in the shape of the active site so that it can no longer interact with the substrate. |
