BIOCHEMISTRY FOR MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
RMT 2025
PROF. RAMELO RAMIREZ
INTRODUCTION TO BIOCHEMISTRY
TOPIC OUTLINE
I. Biochemistry
II. The Identifying Characteristics of Matter
III. Biochemistry and the Living State
IV. Major Development that Happened
V. Biomolecules
VI. Principles You Have to Remember
VII. Energy Transformations in Living Cells
VIII. Chemical Reactions in Living Cells
IX. Self – Regulation
X. Self - Replication
BIOCHEMISTRY
 Study of life
 Study of the processes that happen in life
 Study of the metabolic processes that happen in
organic matter
 Study of metabolism in relation to the reactions
of the living matter
Life processes are biological phenomena that take
place and they are run by chemical processes – these
are the effects of the metabolic reactions in the body.
THE IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS OF MATTER
1. They are complicated and highly organized.
 Development of a human from baby to
adult
 We evolved into a complex organism –
development of various body systems (12
systems – Nervous, Cardiovascular,
Integumentary, Muscular, Skeletal,
Endocrine, Urinary, Lymphatic, Digestive,
Respiratory, Female Reproductive, and
Male Reproductive)
 Each system is organized and has its own
components; no two system have the same
component
 In every living matter; everything is placed
in their proper order
 Arrangement of systems are put in the
correct order (digestive – mouth to
esophagus to stomach)
 Everything is complicated but is highly
organized
2. Each component of a living organisms appears to
have a specific purpose or function
 Stomach – initial digestion processes
 Kidney – cleanse blood
 Liver – has many functions
 Heart – pumps blood and supply oxygen
throughout the body
WHY FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART?
Hypothalamus is the center of emotion;
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therefore, dapat from the innermost portion
of my hypothalamus
 Anus is also an important part because it
excretes waste materials from the body;
kapag di nagfunction ang anus
(constipation), it can cause poisoning and
can affect other parts of the body. It is
important because it is also a part that has a
specific purpose/role, which constitutes a
living organism.
3. Living organisms have the capacity to
extract and transform energy from their
environment which they use to build and
maintain their intricate structures from simple
raw materials.
 Simple raw materials from the
environment are organized with the use of
energy in the form of ATP.
 Photosynthesis - the process of getting
photons of light and converting it into
energy-carrying bodies (glucose,
carbohydrates)
 When carbohydrates, produced by plants,
are taken in by animals or human beings,
they will have a supply of energy from
which will come the chemical form of
energy that will be produced by the
process of living animals, known as
respiration.
 Carbohydrates are energy foods (GROW -
proteins, GLOW - lipids, GO -
carbohydrates).
 Carbohydrates will be the storage of
glucose, which will be converted into ATP
through the process of respiration.
 The ATP produced in the body during this
process will be significant in organizing
the body and allowing energy to pass
through the different chemical reactions
that happen in the human body.
4. Living organisms have the capacity for
precise self – replication, a property that may
be regarded as the very quintessence of the
living state.
BIOCHEMISTRY AND THE LIVING STATE
1.
The central goal of Biochemistry is to
determine how the collections of inanimate
molecules found in living organisms
interact with each other to constitute,
maintain, and perpetuate the living state.
2. Two parent lines in the genealogy of the
Science of Biochemistry
a) One line arose from Medicine and
Physiology, a by – product of early
inquiries into the chemical composition
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PROF. RAMELO RAMIREZ
of blood, urine, and the tissues and
their variation in health and disease.
b) The other lineage traces from Organic
Chemistry, from early studies on the
structure of naturally occurring organic
compounds.
3. Two major developments that allowed
Biochemistry to emerge as a full – fledged
Science.
a. The recognition of multi-enzyme systems
as catalytic units in the major metabolic
pathways and the development of a
unifying hypothesis for the transfer of
energy in living cells.
b. The recognition that heredity, one of the
most fundamental aspects of Biology, has
a rational molecular basis.
4. The success of Biochemistry in explaining many
cellular phenomena has been so great that many
scientists have come to a conclusion that Biology
is Chemistry.
What is the goal of biochemistry?
 To determine if the inorganic matter that we
can see within living organisms can interact ,
form , perpetuate and maintain the living
state/state where we are in.
 These characteristics define what a living
organism is depending upon all of the
materials that compose them - inorganic
materials are present in the human body.
 Main goal of biochemistry is to understand
the Interaction between inanimate molecules
and interaction between these molecules to
produce life in the living organism.
5. If Biology is Chemistry, it must be a kind of
“superchemistry” because the molecules found
in living organisms do not only conform to all the
familiar physical and chemical principles
governing behavior of all molecules but, in
addition, interact with each other in accordance
with another set of principles, “The Molecular
Logic of the Living State.”
2 lines of Study of Chemistry
a. Medicine and Physiology
 From POV of medicine
 Focuses on composition of urine, blood
and tissues and how & what changes
happen when they are in a state of
metabolic disorder (disease)
 Doctors believed that diseases arise due
to unclean/impure blood.
Lymph Nodes - increases volume of blood
 That is why it is healthy to donate blood
dahil a lot of toxins can be removed from
you. Blood vessels and blood cells can be
replenished with removing them from
the body.
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Liver - produces RBCs and bring it back to the
system
Lymph - if nabawasan ang blood ng plasma,
lymph magkarga
Mechanism of replenishment of liquids after
blood donation:
max blood you can donate: 500cc/ mL
You are instructed to drink a lot of liquids after
donating blood because liquids will be processed
by the body through the digestive system and
then enter the lymphatic system to produce
lymph. Lymphatic system is connected to the
vascular system kaya lymph will supply
necessary liquids to be able to bring back the
volume of blood to 5 liters.
Blood bag
50 mL - materials that would prevent clotting
and preserve blood
450mL - blood from donors
Presence of Glucose in urine - Glycosuria
6. These principles should be regarded as a set of
ground rules that govern the nature, function,
and interactions of the specific types of
molecules found in living organisms, that endow
them with the capacity for self – organization
and self – replication. The principles will be
uncovered in the next topics to be discussed.
 There are alot of things na makikita sa
urine ng isang person. Yung maraming salt
and Chemicals na makikita.
 Urine can also be used as an indicator of
the health of a person. Kapag sobrang
yellow ng urine mo bordering to orange eh iba
na diba? Kapag may internal bleeding ka,
dugo ang makikita sa ihi mo? And ofcourse
yung feces mo rin makikita yung blood.
These were the triggers to study diseases:
1. Diseases were believed to be a
malfunction of the biochemical in the
body.
2. The early studies of these organic
molecules show that when they react
to one another, they will be capable of
forming different structures.
 Yung different materials,
different biochemicals can form
based on the principles of
covalent bonding of molecules
in organic compounds.
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAPPENED
1. The focus of chemistry is now in the
chemistry of human beings or chemistry
of life.
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 Multi – enzyme systems are produced
and act as catalysts in a major
metabolic pathway. For example, the
process of Respiration during the Krebs
Cycle also knows as Citric Acid Cycle or
Tricarboxylic Acid (TCA).
 One intermediate reacts with one
enzyme one enzyme to produce a
product, and that product is acted
upon by another enzyme to produce
another product and so on and so
forth. Transferring energy in living
cells because every action will be
endergonic and exergonic. One will
 The compounds that are extremely complex
release energy and the other accepts
energy, when the product is
produced energy is released. When
the products are produced, energy is
released and brought to the other
product and this product will
release energy also to produce the
next product. It’s a system of
release and acceptance.
 However, not all energy will be
accepted. This energy lost will be
released from the body in the
form of heat.
2. Heredity
 May rational molecular basis na kasi ang
heredity. You get half of your genes from
your mother and as well to your father, if
you look like your father the expression of
your genes is more on your father’s gene
and the lesser is the expression of the genes
of your mother.
 Like the Intelligence gene. According sa
summary ng research ni sir on this matter
for 3 years, the inheritance of the gene is
definitely 50/50. The intelligence gene you
get 12 from your father and 12 from your
mother, but the expression of the gene is
different from the gene you inherit. So kung
nainherit mo lang yung genotype niya, not
necessarily yung expression niya ang
mainherit mo. According sa findings ng
research ni sir, 70% to 80% of the time it is
the gene of the MOTHER that is expressed
not the father’s. But always remember, that
the inheritance of a gene is always 50/50
but its expression is different. Iba ang
genotype sa phenotype.
Fun fact:
Kung sino raw ang kamukha mo, siya daw
yung mas nagenjoy nung ginawa kayo (joke
lang)
 The organic compounds present in living
 So going farther, if all of the living organisms
will actually be performing and will be
governing the behavior of all molecules and
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even the way they interact with each other,
then all the biological phenomena are all
affected and impacted by your metabolic
reactions. You would think that there is no
such thing as biology, because biology is
chemistry. All of the biological phenomena
are affected and are run by chemical
reactions. This is supported by the “Molecular
Logic of the Living State”, meaning to say that
a living state is a product of interactions
between chemicals. This is evident and what
can be seen in metabolic reactions.]
BIOMOLECULES
and diverse but you can bring it down to its
original form. Like proteins, carbohydrates,
and lipids.
Proteins
 Formed by combinations of amino acids.
When you break them down and go down
to the amino acids, then the structure is
very simple; you just have to connect it
with one another.
Carbohydrates
 Very complex but if you break it down to
its simplest form”glucose”, you will find
out that its structure is very simple. So
may mga simple building blocks lang tayo
na siya ang basis ng pagiging
biomolecules like the lipids.
Lipids
 Combinations of Carboxylic Acids or
Fatty Acids and Glycerol. It’s not complex
because it's only made up of these two.
Polysaccharides
 Product of the combination of 2 glucose
molecules.
Simple lang ang structure nila but when
they’re combined together they will become
diverse, they will play a lot of roles just like
proteins; there are a lot of proteins also as to
their roles. Maraming roles but they come
from a simple material – the building block.
 Some are intended for structure (myosin
and eosin from your muscles), Collagen is
also involved in the structure.
 For transport functions, you have your
myoglobin and globulins which are
different types of proteins and roles.
 For protection you have your immune
system. Immunoglobulins and antibodies
are proteins but play different roles.
matter occur in extraordinary variety and
most of them are extremely complex. Bacteria
contain a very large number of different
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PROF. RAMELO RAMIREZ
organic compounds. E. coli is estimated to
contain about 5,000 different kinds of
proteins and 1,000 kinds of nucleic acids.
 Most organic matter in living cells consists of
macromolecules with very large molecular
weights. The more complex the organism, the
greater the number of proteins and nucleic
acids. Each species of organism has its own
chemically distinct sets of proteins and
nucleic acids.
 The immense diversity of organic molecules
in living organisms is reducible to a surprising
simplicity Cell macromolecules are composed
of simple, small building – block molecules
strung together in long chains.
o Starch and cellulose consists of long
strings of covalently linked glucose
(simple carbohydrate) molecules
o Proteins are built from 20 amino acids
o DNA is built from 4 nucleotides and
RNA is also built from four nucleotides
 The few simple building – block molecules
from which all macromolecules are
constructed have another striking
characteristic. Each serves more than one
function: some Are extremely diverse and play
a number of roles.
o The amino acids do not only serve as
building blocks of proteins but also as
precursors of hormones, alkaloids,
porphyrins, pigments, and many other
biomolecules.
o Various nucleotides do not only serve
as building – blocks of nucleic acids but
also as coenzymes and energy carrying
molecules.
PRINCIPLES YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER
 the following axioms in the molecular logic of
living organisms:
 1st: There is an underlying simplicity in
the molecular organization of the cell.
That they come from simple materials –
building blocks.
o These building blocks when
combined together will form the
different parts of the cell and will be
governed by the number of elements
combined together to form an
organelle.
 2nd: All living organisms have a common
ancestor. Because the building – block
molecules are identical in all known species.
 3rd: The identity of each species is
preserved by nucleic acids.
o Lahat ng genes ng isang human being
is stored in a small molecule known
as the “DNA”. So lahat ng information
kung paano ka mabubuo ay nasa DNA
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na. That’s why cloning is possible.
(Ex: Dolly the Sheep)
o Cloning in plants is through cutting. When
the parts are planted, it produces the same
plant with the same characteristics.
o Cloning is easy in plants, but not in animals.
o We have our own identity embedded in our
DNA molecule; thus, no two people are
practically the same, but this is not absolute
because identical twins have the same DNA
molecule.
o The better identification of a person is
through fingerprinting because it allows you
to see the loops and whorls of an individual.
Identical twins have different fingerprints.
 4th: There is an underlying principle of
molecular economy in living organisms.
Because of the functional diversity of the
building – block molecules.
 When you die, you go back to becoming
an organic matter.
 From dust you came, and dust you shall
return.
 Dust = inorganic matter
 The inorganic matter that came from
dead people will be used by living
organisms to organize other living
organisms.
 The inorganic matter produced by dead
people will find its way back to living
organisms.
 Matter is neither created nor destroyed.
 The inorganic matter that is used to
organize a new organism came from the
environment.
 Matter is not produced and does not
increase in this world (remains
constant).
 Even if we do not destroy our
environment and conduct
anthropogenic activities that destroy the
environment, our very presence in this
world destroys the environment
because the processes in our body, such
as the repair of our body systems get the
raw materials from the environment.
 The population is the one that is
destroying the environment, causing the
implementation of certain rules to
regulate the population (One Child
Policy in China).
 This is why the Philippines have many
environmental problems - because
people believe that having more
children increases the chance of having
an improvement in your life.
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ENERGY TRANSFORMATION IN LIVING CELLS
 Living organisms are not an exception to
the laws of thermodynamics, which is the
transfer of energy.
 The molecular complexity and the orderliness
of structure of living organisms in contrast to the
randomness of inanimate matter have profound
implications to the physical scientist. The 2 Law of
nd
Thermodynamics, the branch of Physics dealing
with energy and its transformations, states that all
physical and chemical processes always proceed
with an increase in the disorder and randomness in
the world, i.e., its entropy. How can living
organisms create and maintain their intricate
orderliness in an environment that is relatively
disordered and becoming more so with time?
 The human being is like a machine that is
run by energy. Unlike machines that can
be closed systems, the human being is an
open system where energy and matter
flows through (they come in and exit
easily).
 In human beings, energy comes in and
out, and materials come in and out. In
terms of thermodynamics, this is
considered as a good system because
there is a free flow of matter and energy
within the human
 Living organisms are not exceptions to the
Laws of Thermodynamics. They maintain their
high degree of molecular orderliness because they
transform one form of energy into another
because the 1st Law of Thermodynamics states
that energy can neither be created nor destroyed
 Human beings are complex.
 The structure of human beings and other
organisms are strong; they have strong
covalent bonds that hold together the
structure and do not allow the structure
to be destroyed.
 Water is a material that can dissolve a lot
of things (organic or inorganic). However,
if you die in a swimming pool, you come
out as the same human being without
being broken into pieces because the
stability and orderliness of the body do
not allow the breakdown of your parts.
This orderliness is maintained because of
the energy that comes in and facilitates
the different metabolic reactions of the
body.
 The human being has the capacity to
transform energy from one form to
another, but the product of these
transformations is the one that destroys
the environment. This product is in the
form of heat, the by-product of all
metabolic reactions.
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 Cells of living organisms absorb a useful form
of energy called “free energy” which can do work
at constant temperature and pressure. The less
useful type of energy that the cells return to their
environment consists of heat and other forms that
quickly become randomized in the environment
and it increases its disorder or entropy
 Heat releases energy that is not useful.
 We absorbed free energy: energy that can
do work at constant temperature and
pressure.
 If we absorb energy our body works and
the metabolic process proceeds properly.
However, if there is a change in the
temperature of the body, free energy
cannot be used properly for work
 Example: fever with 39 deg - you expect
damages in your system ( in kids: 40 deg -
convulsions)
 We can only do work at constant
temperature, cannot do normal work if
wala sa normal temp ang human being.
 Normal Temp: 36.5 to 37
 Optimal temperature of the body/
temperature at which the body performs
best: 36.5
 For both sexes the average is: 36. 5.
Idinagdag ang 0.5 dahil nagi-ncrease temp
ng ladies by 0.5 during menstruation.
 The less useful type of energy will return to
the environment.
 These are the energies that are used sa
reactio. Heat released will cause entropy
or disorder in the environment. Itong heat
na ito ay sisirain niya ang environment.
The beauty of our planet is that, after all
the emission of CO2 and anthropogenic
activities, the CO2 managed to stay in the
atmosphere (mahirap kasi siyang mag
escape from the earth).
 Dahil maraming CO2 sa air, this CO2
prevents heat from escaping our world.
For example, Kapag sabay sabay magsalita
sa isang classroom, iinit ang pakiramdam
sa classroom kasi sa increase ng pag buga
natin ng CO2. Kapag nagincrease ang CO2,
babalutin niya ang buong room yung hindi
nakakalabas yung heat from the classroom
(termed as Greenhouse effect).
CO2 is a byproduct of a metabolism. It will
not come out as fart but it will exit from your
lungs. In environmental science, we’re
encouraged not to produce CO2 kaya
burning of fossil fuels, burning of wood and
other types of burning is highly discouraged
because these actions contribute to the
increase of temperature. Plants also grow
well when you speak to plants. CO2 comes
from the mouth, the plants need carbon
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dioxide to live in the same manner as we,
human beings, need the oxygen they emit (a
symbiotic relationship).
 Living organisms create and maintain their
essential orderliness at the expense of the
environment, which they cause to become more
disordered and random.
 The orderliness of a living organism always
results in a disorder in the environment.
 Living cells function as isothermal chemical
engines.
 Isothermal means “it operates at
optimal temperature.” So nagiging
chemical engine. Chemical engines
because they transform energy from one
form to another going into the different
processes that you know as metabolism.
Cells can function as chemical engines
because they function as chemical enzymes
or catalysts, capable of enhancing the rate
of specific chemical reactions.
CHEMICAL REACTIONS IN LIVING CELLS
 Cells can function as chemical engines because
they possess enzymes, catalysts capable of greatly
enhancing the rate of specific chemical reactions.
Enzymes are highly specialized protein
structures. Each enzyme can catalyze only one
specific type of chemical reaction.
 Enzymes increase reaction by lowering the
threshold, the channel that they undergo to
complete the reaction. The transition state
of a reaction goes down for it to be easier to
reach the reaction and yield products.
 One thing that is very important in the use of
enzymes is that there are no by-products
produced.
 Enzyme catalyzed reactions proceed with 100%
yield; there are no by – products because enzymes
can enhance a single reaction pathway of a given
molecule without enhancing its other possible
reactions.
 Metabolic activities go a long long way. It is
made up of a series of reactions that requires
an enzyme and the production of the exact
product and the exact amount of product for
the next reaction to follow. And the enzyme
involved is acting on it to produce the same
amount of product.
 There should be no by-product; if there are
by-products, production is deficient and
there’s something wrong in the system. If the
process jumps from one reaction to another,
we must ensure that the correct amount of
products and right products are produced
through these enzyme reactions so that
when we reach the end of the metabolic
process, we will be able to produce things
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that we really need for the living state to be
maintained.
 This allows the living organisms to carry out,
simultaneously, many different individual
reactions without bogging down in a morass
of useless by – products.
 This leads us to the 7th axiom in the molecular
logic of living organisms: The specificity of
molecular interactions in cells results from the
structural complementarity of the interacting
molecules. Enzyme molecules combine with their
substrates during the catalytic cycle in such a
way that the active site of the enzyme molecule
fits the substrate with a near perfect lock – and –
key complementarity.
 The enzyme – catalyzed reactions do not take
place independently of each other but are linked
into sequences of consecutive reactions having
common intermediates, so that the products of the
1st reaction becomes the substrate or reactant of
the 2nd and so on. Such linked or coupled
sequences are in turn connected into networks of
converging or diverging pathways.
 This arrangement has important biological
implications:
o Such systems of sequential reactions
provide for the channeling of chemical
reactions along specific routes to
specific end products.
o Sequential reactions makes the transfer
of chemical energy possible.
 Living cells can be divided into two major
classes according to the type of energy they
obtain from the environment
o Photosynthetic cells utilize sunlight as
their main source of energy; the radiant
energy is absorbed by the pigment
chlorophyll and transformed into
chemical energy.
o Heterotrophic cells obtain energy from
the degradation of highly reduced,
energy rich organic molecules, such as
glucose, which they require as nutrients
in the environment.
 Both classes transform the energy
obtained from the environment in the form of
adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is the major
carrier of chemical energy in the cells of all living
species. It transfers energy to other molecules by
losing its terminal phosphate group to for
adenosine diphosphate (ADP). Energy is added to
ADP in the form of a phosphate group to form
ATP once again.
 ATP serves as a common intermediate or
connecting link between two large networks of
enzyme – catalyzed reactions in the cell.
o One of these networks conserves
chemical energy derived from the
environment by causing the
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phosphorylation of the energy – poor
ADP to the energy – rich ATP.
o The other network utilizes the energy of
ATP to carry out the biosynthesis of cell
components from simple precursors
with the simultaneous breakdown of
ATP to ADP.
 This leads us to the 8th axiom in the molecular
logic of living organisms: Consecutively linked
sequences of enzyme catalyzed reactions provide
the means for transferring chemical energy from
energy yielding to energy requiring processes.
 The linkages of enzymes catalyze
reactions to consecutives sequences
makes regulation of metabolism possible.
 Alam ng body kapag sobra na ang
chemicals it has a stop reaction – merong
self – regulation.
SELF – REGULATION OF CELL REACTIONS
 A simple bacterial cell like E. coli
simultaneously synthesizes all its thousands
of different complex molecular components
from just three simple precursors – glucose,
ammonia, and water because of the linking of
enzyme catalyzed reactions.
 The linkage of enzyme – catalyzed reactions
into consecutive sequences makes the
regulation of metabolism possible and
endows it with self – adjusting properties. A
simple example is as follows: The over –
accumulation of an end product of
metabolism, such as an amino acid, can
inhibit the rate – determining step in the
sequence of reactions by which it was
formed, a type of control known as
feedback inhibition
 You can regulate the production of your own
enzymes. Pagsobra na ang dami ng enzymes,
nagaadjust ang katawan hindi na muna ito
magproproduce in the meantime. The trigger
for the production of enzymes is the lack of
enzymes in the body.
 Sensitive ang katawan natin, alam na alam ng
ating katawan kung kulang ang enzymes natin.
Kung kulang, magproproduce ang katawan
natin. Ito ang tinatawag na self – regulation.
 Pagtama ang reproduction ng enzymes, tama
ang regulation ng reaction, and tama ang buong
process ng metabolism.
 Living cells also possess the power to
regulate the synthesis of their own catalysts.
The cell therefore can “turn off” the synthesis
of the enzymes required to make a given
product from its precursors whenever the
product is available, ready – made, from the
environment.
 This leads us to the 9th axiom in the
molecular logic of living organisms: Cells are
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capable of regulating their metabolic
reactions and the biosynthesis of their
enzymes to achieve maximum efficiency
and economy.
REMEMBER!!
Any disruption on this, will result a metabolic
disorder or will result in an illness or a disease.
SELF – REPLICATION OF LIVING ORGANISMS
 The most remarkable of all properties of
living cells is their capacity to reproduce
themselves with nearly perfect fidelity for
thousands of generations. Three features
immediately out.
Another, the stability of genetic
information in DNA. This is actually the one that
affects the nearly perfect fidelity – it’s because of
the stability of the genetic information stored in
the DNA. The DNA will carry the codes on
determining what you will become (what is the
shape of your nose, the shape of your eyes, and
the structure of your body).
This information is very stable, sometime
the code in DNA, though stable, will sometimes
have differences also in production of the
offspring.
** pwede din palang lumabas ang recessive traits
natin. Pwedeng lumabas sa offspring natin
o First, some living organisms are so
immensely complex that the amount of
genetic information transmitted seems
out of all proportion to the minute size
of cells that must carry it, namely, the
sperm cell and the egg cell. This leads us
to the 10th axiom in the molecular logic
of living organisms: The symbols in
which the genetic information is
coded in DNA are sub – molecular in
dimension.
o 2nd remarkable characteristic is the
extraordinary stability of genetic
information stored in DNA. The
capacity of living cells to preserve their
genetic information is the result of the
operation of the principle of structural
complementarity. One DNA strand
serves as the template for the
enzymatic replication of a structurally
complementary DNA strand.
o 3rd remarkable characteristic is that
genetic information is encoded in the
form of specific sequence of four
different nucleotide building blocks in
the linear DNA molecule. This leads us
to the 11th and most crucial axiom in the
molecular logic of living organisms:
The one – dimensional information of
DNA is translated into three –
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 BIOCHEMISTRY FOR MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE BSMLS-2C
RMT 2025
PROF. RAMELO RAMIREZ
dimensional macromolecular and
supramolecular components of living
organisms by translation of DNA
structure into protein structure.
 We may now summarize the different axioms or
principles by the following statements: A living
cell is a self – assembling, self – regulating, self
– replicating isothermal open system of
organic molecules operating on the principle
of maximum economy of parts and processes;
it promotes many consecutive, linked organic
reactions for the transfer of energy and for
the synthesis of its own components by
means of organic catalysts that it produces
itself
 Looking at the definition of the cell –
 it is a self – assembling: they
produce their own parts
 it is a self – regulating: kapag may
sobra, binabawasan.
 Self – replicating: almost exact copy
 Isothermal: one optimal
temperature
 Open system: this is where materials
flow in and flow out including energy
 Principle of maximum economy:
walang ibang kailangan kundi lahat
ng nasa environment
 Consecutive linked organic
reactions: needed for the transfer of
energy
 Synthesis of its own components by
means of organic catalysts which
they produce themselves
 That practically summarizes all the
interactions in the living state and all of this
needs to happen for the living state to be
perpetuated.

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BSMLS BATCH ’25 (Block 2C)