Chapter 3 Lecture Enrichment Ideas
Describe different molecules such as nucleic acids and proteins that are different in various life forms but still have the same basic structure to perform the same kind of job. Why should some molecules be essentially the same in bacteria and humans and others be very different?
Discuss why life is based on carbon. Note the characteristics of carbon that could be responsible for this usage. Ask students to speculate why silicon, with four electrons in its outer shell, would be good or bad as the basis of life.
Describe the structures and characteristics of functional groups that are important in the biochemistry of living organisms.
Explain the different isomeric forms of the hexose sugars glucose, fructose, and galactose, and reasons for their different characteristics. Describe how the structures fit into enzymes and why different enzymes would be needed to interact with different isomers.
Ask if condensation and hydrolysis reactions would be exact opposites of each other. Point out that these reactions are not generally one-step processes but require several steps and several enzymes to carry out the complete reaction.
Speculate what would happen if genetic engineering gave humans the ability to digest cellulose. Would this be useful or not? Ask students to consider the structure of our digestive tracts and the current use of cellulose as roughage.
Describe how denaturation affects the different levels of a protein's structure. Which levels would be most affected by denaturation? Contrast denaturation caused by heat (cooking food) as opposed to mild denaturation caused by reversible pH changes.
Compare the different types of subunits and bonds that link the carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Consider the size of the final molecules and which ones are branched and unbranched. Prepare the students for the link between the information in DNA and RNA and proteins that will be discussed later.
Query how the amount of ATP used in one day can exceed by many times the amount of ATP in the human body.
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