厦大生化授课教案（前沿）.pdfVIP

Biochemistry § Major references 1) Biochemistry Garrett Grisham, 2nd or 3rd Edition (provided) 2) Principles of Biochemistry, Lehninger, Nelson Cox, 3rd edition 3) Biochemistry, Stryer, 5th edition LIN Shengcai; E-mail: linsc@xmu.edu.cn § Content • Basic concepts of biochemistry • Biochemistry as a chemical science • Distinction between inanimate matter from living organisms • Biological molecules or biomolecules – Macromolecules and building blocks • Biochemistry as an interdisciplinary science • Biological forces • Dynamic cells • Water: the medium of life What Is Biochemistry? • Biochemistry seeks to describe the structure, organization, and functions of living matter in molecular terms. Roots (history) of Biochemistry The present day biochemistry is the interweaving product of historical traditions of biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics. Friedrich Wohler’s successful synthesis of urea from ammonium cyanate (1828) Hans Buchner and Eduard Buchner’s discovery of in vitro fermentation in 1897, quite by accident. They were interested in manufacturing cell-free yeast extract for possible therapeutic use. These extracts had to be preserved without anticeptics at the time, and so they decided to try sucrose, a commonly used preservative in kitchen chemistry. They obtained a startling result: sucrose was rapidly fermented into alcohol by the yeast juice. • The significance of this finding is that they demonstrated for the first time fermentation could occur outside the cell. This was in contrast to the accepted view of their day, as asserted by Louis Pasteur, that fermentation