Illustrated Notes on Biomolecules

By Mohammad Fahad Ullah

The current edition of this book is intended towards influencing a basic understanding of biomolecules to the students of higher secondary schools and undergraduate programs of health science specialties. An attempt has been made to present the existing knowledge on biomolecules in a lucid language so as to be productive in terms of ease of learning. It is important to mention that the title covers only major categories of biomolecules, which are considered to be of significant value in life processes. In short, the book is a compilation of notes for an instant review on the biomolecules.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: May 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781482865295

Mohammad Fahad Ullah

Mohammad Fahad Ullah is an assistant professor of biochemistry in the Department of Medical Laboratory Technology (FAMS) and a research scientist at Prince Fahd Research Chair, University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. He received his academic degrees along with a gold medal in MSc (biochemistry) from Aligarh Muslim University, India. Further he worked as a research associate at Experimental Oncology Laboratory, Department of Biomedical & Diagnostic Sciences, University of Tennessee, USA. His research interests include novel plant- or diet-derived cancer chemopreventive compounds for assessing the mechanism of action and translational potential against cancer disease. He is an active member of AACR and member of the editorial/reviewer board of a number of scientific journals. Dr. Ullah has more than five years of experience in teaching biochemistry to the students of health sciences.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Mohammad Fahad Ullah.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4828-6530-1

                eBook           978-1-4828-6529-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Contents

1.         Learning objectives

Rationale & outcome

2.         Biomolecules

Introduction

Classification

Functional Groups

Covalent bonds in large biomolecules (macromolecules)

3.         Carbohydrates

Classification of carbohydrates

Monosaccharides

Stereoisomers

Monosaccharides are reducing agents

Glycosidic Linkage

Disaccharides

Oligosaccharides

Polysaccharides

Functions of carbohydrates in living cells

4.         Proteins

Classification of amino acids

Peptide bond formation

Protein structure

Classification of Proteins

Functions of proteins

5.         Lipids

Classification

Basic structural units of lipids

Fatty acids

Important lipids: structure and function

6.         Nucleic acids

Structural and functional domains

Nucleotides

Components of nucleotide

Structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Structure of ribonucleic acid (RNA)

7.         Vitamins

Classification

Water soluble vitamins

Fat soluble vitamins

8.         Metabolites

Preface

When we analyze the elemental composition of our non-living surroundings such as the Earth crust, oceans or atmosphere and our (human) tissues or for that matter any living organism including plants, animals and organisms of microbial world, it is observed that all living organisms are made of same elements as are the non-living entities. So the perplexing thought arises as to what grants the living organism, the life. The response to such a thought comes from the ability of these organisms to convert the simple elements into an array of complex molecules which could be easily differentiated from the non-living forms, and are the fundamental basis of life. These complex molecules that give life to living forms are called as Biomolecule. All these organic molecules which are the structural and functional basis of living forms are the product of biological activities.

This book is the first edition of the title ILLUSTRATED NOTES ON BIOMOLECULES and presents the basic knowledge on biomolecules. The book has a student centric approach of learning process with the presentation of the knowledge in an easy to understand language in a manner that should induce the intent of self-learning among the students. An attempt has been made to break up the complex wall of knowledge into facile bricks and let the students join the bricks themselves. An easy understanding of the subject evokes interest towards advance learning.

Mohammad Fahad Ullah, Ph.D

Prince Fahd Research Chair

Department of Medical Laboratory Technology

FAMS, University of Tabuk, KSA

This book is dedicated to my beloved father who will ever remain an inspiring soul for all my deeds!

Foreword

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I am immensely excited after reading Illustrated Notes on Biomolecules, a book on the very ‘basis’