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Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. [1] Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. [2] Only these 22 appear in the genetic code of life. [3][4]
The side chains of the standard amino acids, detailed in the list of standard amino acids, have a great variety of chemical structures and properties; it is the combined effect of all of the amino acid side chains in a protein that ultimately determines its three-dimensional structure and its chemical reactivity. [29]
686465. Anatomical terminology. [edit on Wikidata] The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all forms of life. Every cell consists of cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane; many cells contain organelles, each with a specific function. The term comes from the Latin word cellula meaning 'small room'.
Genetics. In biology, translation is the process in living cells in which proteins are produced using RNA molecules as templates. The generated protein is a sequence of amino acids. This sequence is determined by the sequence of nucleotides in the RNA. The nucleotides are considered three at a time.
Essential amino acid. An essential amino acid, or indispensable amino acid, is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized from scratch by the organism fast enough to supply its demand, and must therefore come from the diet. Of the 21 amino acids common to all life forms, the nine amino acids humans cannot synthesize are valine, isoleucine ...
The basic unit (or monomer) of a protein is an amino acid. [35] Twenty amino acids are used in proteins. [35] Nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides. [39] Their function is to store, transmit, and express hereditary information. [36]
Protein structure is the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms in an amino acid -chain molecule. Proteins are polymers – specifically polypeptides – formed from sequences of amino acids, which are the monomers of the polymer. A single amino acid monomer may also be called a residue, which indicates a repeating unit of a polymer.
The term nucleic acid is the overall name for DNA and RNA, members of a family of biopolymers, [13] and is a type of polynucleotide. Nucleic acids were named for their initial discovery within the nucleus, and for the presence of phosphate groups (related to phosphoric acid). [14] Although first discovered within the nucleus of eukaryotic cells ...