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4.1 The Chemical Composition of The Cell 1. Elements form the basic building block of all matter 2. There are about 92 elements occurring naturally in nature 3. 25 elements are needed to build living organisms
4. There are main elements (CHON) that most frequently found elements in cells forming about 96% of the human body. 5. Trace elements are elements found in small quantities in cells, but are important for many biological processes. [Calcium(P), Potassium(P), Phosphorus(P), Sulphur(S), Sodium(Na), Chlorine(Cl), Magnesium(Mg) and Iron(Fe)]
Hydrogen Carbon
H C
Oxygen
Nitrogen
O
N
2. THE IMPORTANCE OF NUCLEIC ACIDS 1. Nucleic acid are compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and nitrogen. 2. Two types of nucleic acids :
Deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
3. Nucleotides are the basic building units of nucleic acids. 4. Each nucleotide has a nitrogen base, a sugar and a phosphate group
5. In DNA, 4 different nitrogenous bases are adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine. 6. Two DNA strands lie alongside but upside down to each other, joining the bases. 7. Twisting the two DNA stands will give us the typical spiral staircase-like double helix DNA molecules. 8.
Nucleic acids are importance because a) Store genetic information b) Stable storage c) Transmission of genetic information d) Easy to duplicate for transmission
f) Haemoglobin g) Coagulative proteins thrombin and fibrinogen so that we will not bleed h) Membrane proteins /carrier proteins i) Energy storage