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Biochem > Topic 1: The Chemical Basis of Life > Flashcards

Topic 1: The Chemical Basis of Life Flashcards

(75 cards)

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1
Q

biochemistry is interested in …

A

molecules - how they function & interact with each other

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2
Q

4 major classes of biomolecules are …

A
  1. amino acids
  2. nucleotides
  3. carbohydrates
  4. lipids
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3
Q

the two biological polymers that are genetically encoded are …

A

proteins & nucleic acids

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4
Q

RNA can transmit information through …

A

generations of cells/organisms

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5
Q

biochemists investigate how organisms behave …

A

when a particular molecule is modified or absent

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6
Q

elements found in living systems are …

A 
C
N
O
H
Ca
P
K
S
Cl
Na
Mg
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7
Q

nucleotides form nucleic acids with … bonds

A

phosphodiester

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8
Q

monosaccharide residues are connected by … bonds

A

glycosidic

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9
Q

Gibbs’ free energy SI units are …

A

J/mol

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10
Q

SI units for enthalpy are …

A

J/mol

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11
Q

enzymes are responsible for …

A

greatly increasing the rate of a reaction

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12
Q

amino acid polymers form …

A

proteins

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13
Q

nucleic acids … form polymers

A

do

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14
Q

polysaccharides are polymers of …

A

monosaccharides

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15
Q

lipids … form polymers

A

don’t

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16
Q

lipids … instead of forming …

A

self-associate

polymers

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17
Q

biochemical reactions … spontaneous

A

are

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18
Q

spontaneous reactions mean there was …

A

a drop in free energy from beginning to end

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19
Q

central dogma characterizes …

A

flow of information in biological systems

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20
Q

sequence of DNA in a gene dictates …

A

sequence of mRNA strand

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21
Q

codon is recognized by …

A

anticodon

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22
Q

biochemistry offers insights into …

A

treatment of diseases

efficiency of industries

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23
Q

understanding molecular structure and reactivity helps to understand …

A

how molecules cooperate and combine to form larger functional units

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24
Q

bioinformatics is the study of …

A

information about molecular structures & functions stored and analyzed by a computer

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25
3 major themes of biochemistry are ...
1. structure of a molecule is directly linked to its function 2. organisms acquire, transform, store, and use energy 3. biological information is transmitted from generation to generation
26
homeostasis is defined as ...
steady, non-equilibrium state
27
trace elements are defined as ...
elements that are present only in small amounds
28
nearly all molecules in living organisms contain ...
carbon
29
nucleotides are composed of ...
five-carbon sugar, nitrogen-containing ring, at least 1 phosphate group
30
lipids are poorly soluble in ... because ...
water | most of structure is non-polar hydrocarbons
31
residues are defined as ...
individual units of polymers | monomers after being combined into a polymer
32
peptide bonds are essentially just ...
amide bonds
33
proteins are the most structurally variable and functionally versatile polymers because ...
there are 20 different amino acids with an almost infinite amount of combinations
34
main function of proteins are ...
metabolic reactions & support cellular structures
35
main function of nucleic acids are ...
encode information
36
main function of polysaccharides are ...
store energy & support cellular structures
37
first law of thermodynamics states ...
energy cannot be created or destroyed
38
second law of thermodynamics states ...
energy tends to spread out
39
enthalpy is equivalent to ...
heat content of the system
40
exothermic reactions ... heat
release
41
endothermic reactions ... heat
absorb
42
entropy is defined as ...
measure of how the energy is dispersed within that system
43
SI units of entropy are ...
J/(K*mol)
44
entropy is ... to temperature
proportional
45
it is nearly impossible to measure a system's entropy because ...
need to count all possible ways energy can spread out
46
free energy must be ... for a reaction to occur
negative
47
exergonic reactions will ...
occur as written
48
exergonic reactions have a free energy change that is ...
<0
49
endergonic reactions will ...
not occur as written
50
energonic reactions have a free energy change that is ...
>0
51
at equilibrium the free energy change is ...
=0
52
a reaction will always occur if there is a ... in enthalpy and ... in entropy because ...
decrease increase change in Gibbs' free energy will always be negative
53
"in vitro" means ...
analyzed in glass
54
"in vivo" means
analyzed in organism
55
endergonic reactions may occur in vivo because ...
coupled with exergonic reactions
56
reduced means that electrons are ...
gained
57
oxidized means that electrons are ...
lost
58
removing oxygen causes a gain in electrons because ...
oxygen is very electronegative that it "steals" electrons
59
living organisms have low entropy because ...
free energy is obtained via food and released via waste constantly
60
expression of genetic information is the process ...
in which information is used to direct the synthesis of proteins
61
gene is defined as ...
portion of DNA that can be transcribed into ANY RNA
62
transcription is defined as ...
DNA being copied into mRNA
63
translation is defined as ...
mRNA polymerizing into protein
64
coding strand is the ... strand
non-template
65
non-coding strand is the ... strand
template
66
ribosome is composed of ...
protein and rRNA
67
tRNA are responsible for ...
carrying amino acids
68
rRNA are responsible for ...
recognizing complementary base pairs in a set of 3
69
genetic code is the ...
correspondence btw amino acids and mRNA codons
70
monogenic means ...
related to a single gene
71
polygenic means ...
related to many genes
72
which of the following is not one of the major classes of biological polymers? (a) polysaccharides (b) ribonucleic acids (c) lipid membranes (d) deoxyribonucleic acids (e) polypeptides
(c) lipid membranes
73
genetic information encoded in genes is in the form of: (a) chromosomes (b) ribosomes (c) amino acid sequence (d) nucleic acid sequence (e) replication
(d) nucleic acid sequence
74
RNA is made from the DNA template by the process of: (a) transcription (b) translation (c) replication (d) crossing over (e) none of the above
(a) transcription
75
proteins are made from an RNA template by the process of: (a) transcription (b) translation (c) replication (d) crossing over (e) none of the above
(b) translation

Biochem (1 decks)

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