When these molecules are isolated and examined individually, they conform to all the physical and chemical laws that describe the behavior of inanimate matter-as do all the processes occurring in living organisms. Biochemistry asks how the remarkable properties of living organisms arise from the thousands of different lifeless biomolecules. Life arose-simple microorganisms with the ability to extract energy from organic compounds or from sunlight, which they used to make a vast array of more complex biomolecules from the simple elements and compounds on the Earth’s surface. Thus were produced, over billions of years, the Earth itself and the chemical elements found on the Earth today. Some stars became enormous and then exploded as supernovae, releasing the energy needed to fuse simpler atomic nuclei into the more complex elements. As the universe expanded and cooled, material condensed under the influence of gravity to form stars. Within seconds, the simplest elements (hydrogen and helium) were formed. Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man, 1871 ifteen to twenty billion years ago, the universe arose as a cataclysmic eruption of hot, energy-rich subatomic particles. still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin. We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities. François Jacob, La logique du vivant: une histoire de l’hérédité (The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity), 1970 To characterize life, it was henceforth essential to study the cell and analyze its structure: to single out the common denominators, necessary for the life of every cell alternatively, to identify differences associated with the performance of special functions. With the cell, biology discovered its atom. THE FOUNDATIONS OF BIOCHEMISTRY 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5Ĭellular Foundations 3 Chemical Foundations 12 Physical Foundations 21 Genetic Foundations 28 Evolutionary Foundations 31
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