Biochemistry Section

Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and transformations in living organisms. This article only discusses terrestrial biochemistry (carbon- and water-based), as all the life forms we know are on Earth. Since life forms alive today are known to have descended from the same common ancestor, they naturally have similar biochemistries, even for matters that seem to be essentially arbitrary, such as handedness of various bio molecules. It is unknown whether alternate biochemistries are possible or practical.

Biochemistry is the study of the structure and function of cellular components, such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and other biomolecules. Chemical biology aims to answer many questions arising from biochemistry by using tools developed within synthetic chemistry.

Although there are a vast number of different biomolecules, they tend to be composed of the same repeating subunits (called monomers), in different orders. Each class of biomolecules has a different set of subunits. Recently, biochemistry has focused more specifically on the chemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, and on the properties of proteins.

The biochemistry of cell metabolism and the endocrine system has been extensively described.

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