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01_194287 ffirs.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page i Biochemistry FOR DUMmIES ‰ by John T.Moore,EdD and Richard Langley,PhD 01_194287 ffirs.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page iv 01_194287 ffirs.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page i Biochemistry FOR DUMmIES ‰ by John T.Moore,EdD and Richard Langley,PhD 01_194287 ffirs.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page ii Biochemistry For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. 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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008923128 ISBN: 978-0-470-19428-7 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 01_194287 ffirs.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page iii About the Authors John Mooregrew up in the foothills of Western North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where he received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He earned his master’s degree in chemistry from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. After a stint in the United States Army, he decided to try his hand at teaching. In 1971, he joined the chemistry faculty of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he still teaches chemistry. In 1985 he started back to school part time and in 1991 received his doctorate in education from Texas A&M University. For the last five years has been the co-editor (along with one of his former students) of the “Chemistry for Kids” feature of The Journal of Chemical Education. In 2003, his first book, Chemistry For Dummies, was published, soon to be followed by Chemistry Made Simple. John enjoys cooking and making custom knife handles from exotic woods. Richard Langleygrew up in southwestern Ohio. He attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he received bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and miner- alogy and then a master’s degree in chemistry. His next stop was the University of Nebraska, where he received his doctorate in chemistry. Afterwards, he took a postdoctoral position at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, followed by a visiting assistant professor position at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls. In 1982, he moved to Stephen F. Austin State University. For the past several years, he and John have been graders for the Free Response portion of the AP Chemistry Exam. He and John have collaborated on several writing pro- jects, including 5 Steps To A 5 on the AP: Chemistryand Chemistry for the Utterly Confused. Rich enjoys jewelry making and science fiction. 01_194287 ffirs.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page iv 01_194287 ffirs.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page v Dedication To my wife, Robin; sons, Matthew and Jason; my wonderful daughter-in-law, Sara; and the two most wonderful grandkids in the world, Zane and Sadie. I love you guys. — John To my mother. — Rich Authors’ Acknowledgments We would not have had the opportunity to write this book without the encouragement of our agent, Grace Freedson. We would also like to thank Kristin DeMint for her support and assistance in the early portion of this project and to Corbin Collins who helped us complete it. Thanks to our colleague Michele Harris who helped with suggestions and ideas. And many thanks to all of the people at Wiley publishing who helped bring this project from con- cept to publication. 01_194287 ffirs.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page vi Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services Media Development Project Coordinator: Lynsey Stanford Project Editors: Kristin DeMint and Layout and Graphics: Carrie A. Cesavice, Corbin Collins Alissa D. Ellet, Stephanie D. Jumper Acquisitions Editor: Stacy Kennedy Proofreaders: Laura Albert, Caitie Kelly, Copy Editors: Josh Dials and Corbin Collins Toni Settle Technical Editor: Medhane Cumbay Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC Project Manager I:Laura Moss-Hollister Media Development Specialist:Kit Malone Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker Editorial Supervisor and Reprint Editor: Carmen Krikorian Art Coordinator:Alicia B. South Editorial Assistants:David Lutton and Leeann Harney Cover Photos: Rox Woodward Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Kathleen Nebenhaus,Vice President and Executive Publisher, Consumer Dummies, Lifestyles, Pets, Education Publishing for Technology Dummies Composition Services Gerry Fahey,Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey,Director of Composition Services 02_194287 ftoc.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page vii Contents at a Glance Introduction.................................................................1 Part I: Setting the Stage: Basic Biochemistry Concepts ...7 Chapter 1:Biochemistry: What You Need to Know and Why.......................................9 Chapter 2:Dive In: Water Chemistry..............................................................................17 Chapter 3:Fun with Carbon: Organic Chemistry.........................................................33 Part II: The Meat of Biochemistry: Proteins ..................49 Chapter 4:Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of Protein............................................51 Chapter 5:Protein Structure and Function...................................................................67 Chapter 6:Enzymes Kinetics: Getting There Faster.....................................................85 Part III: Carbohydrates, Lipids, Nucleic Acids, and More .................................................................109 Chapter 7:What We Crave: Carbohydrates................................................................111 Chapter 8:Lipids and Membranes...............................................................................127 Chapter 9:Nucleic Acids and the Code of Life...........................................................143 Chapter 10:Vitamins and Nutrients.............................................................................155 Chapter 11:Be Quiet: Hormones..................................................................................173 Part IV: Bioenergetics and Pathways .........................183 Chapter 12:Life and Energy..........................................................................................185 Chapter 13:ATP: The Body’s Monetary System.........................................................195 Chapter 14:Smelly Biochemistry: Nitrogen in Biological Systems..........................235 Part V: Genetics: Why We Are What We Are...............257 Chapter 15:PhotocopyingDNA....................................................................................259 Chapter 16:Transcribe This! RNA Transcription.......................................................281 Chapter 17:Translation: Protein Synthesis................................................................301 Part VI: The Part of Tens...........................................315 Chapter 18:Ten Great Applications of Biochemistry................................................317 Chapter 19:Ten Biochemistry Careers........................................................................321 Index.......................................................................325 02_194287 ftoc.qxp 3/27/08 12:30 AM Page viii