1.

4Biological
molecules
 Biological molecules are complex
chemicals, that are needed by living
organism for metabolism.
Biological
molecules Examples of Biological molecules are
and Carbohydrates, fat and protein.
Metabolism
Metabolism are chemical
processes/reactions that happens in
cells such as photosynthesis,
respiration, protein synthesis.
Introducing carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are a group of Biological molecules used
as both energy sources and structural materials in
organisms.
All carbohydrates contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen,

There are three main groups of carbohydrates:

 monosaccharides – these are simple sugars, such as
glucose, fructose and galactose

 disaccharides – these are ‘double sugars’, formed from

two monosaccharides,such as sucrose and maltose

 polysaccharides – these are large molecules formed

from many monosaccharides, such as cellulose and
starch. Insoluble and do not taste sweet.
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Glucose
Glucose is simple sugar, simple sugar It contains six carbon
atoms so it is a hexose sugar. Its general formula is C6H12O6.

Glucose is made during photosynthesis, it is the major energy source

for most cells. It is highly soluble and is the main form in which
carbohydrates are transported around the body of animals.

The structure of glucose can be represented in different ways:

straight chain ring ring (simplified)

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 Disaccharides

Diasaccharides are formed from two glucose molecules

joined by a covalent bond. Examples include maltose,
sucrose and lactose

Sucrose (table sugar) is formed

from glucose and fructose joined
by a covalent bond.

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Complex carbohydrates

Complex carbohydrates are called Polysaccharides.

They are polymers containing many monosaccharides linked by chemical
bonds. Like disaccharides, polysaccharides are formed by condensation
reactions.

Polysaccharides are mainly used as an energy store and as

structural components of cells.

The major polysaccharides are starch and cellulose in plants, and

glycogen in animals.

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Properties and uses of starch
Starch is the major carbohydrate storage molecule in plants.

Starch is produced from glucose made during photosynthesis.

It is insoluble.

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What is cellulose?
Cellulose is another polysaccharide and is the main part of
plant cell walls. It is the most abundant organic polymer.

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What is glycogen?
Animals do not store carbohydrate as starch but as glycogen.

Glycogen is stored particularly

in muscles and liver. It is
insoluble do not taste sweet.

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Proteins
 Introducing proteins
Proteins are large and complex molecules, made up Carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen but they also contain nitrogen and some may contain sulphur protein
are long chains molecules made up of smaller molecules called amino acids.

 They have a wide range of biological roles, including:

 structural:, enzymes and antibodies

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PROTEIN
• Proteins are comprised of long chains of
recurring monomers called amino acids.
• There are 20 different types of amino acids
that can be combined to make a protein.
• The sequence of amino acids determines
each protein’s unique 3-dimensional
structure and its specific function. The
amino acids maybe arranged in different
sequence to give different types of protein
(like hair, nails and skin made of keratin)
 PROTEIN

• The different sequences of amino acids give different shapes

to protein molecules.

• These different shapes of protein molecules can be related to

their function.
 PROTEIN
Enzymes are proteins that
provide a surface for reactions to
take place called the 'active site'.
 PROTEIN

Antibodies are proteins with a structure that has binding sites on

its surface.
This enables them to bind with chemicals called antigens on the
surface of pathogens and make the pathogens stick together.
Fats and oils
• Fats and oil are complex molecules,
made up Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

• Each Fat molecules is made up of one

molecule of glycerol attached to three
fatty acid molecule.
Fats and oils

• Because there are different types of fatty acids

therefore there are many different types of
fats.
• 1 gram of Fat provide twice as much energy as
1 gram of carbohydrate.
• Their roles,including: Energy storage and
insulation.
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Water
• Water is made up of two hydrogen atoms
covalently bonded to an oxygen atom
(molecular formula = H2O).
 Water
• Water is commonly referred to as
the universal solvent due to its
capacity to dissolve a large number
of substances
• Water can dissolve any substance
that contains charged particles
(ions).
• For ionic substances, the positive
and negative ions separate and
become surrounded by water
molecules, causing them to
dissolve.
 • Water is a solvent for
numerous biochemical
molecules giving solutions
and enabling:
• Digestion
• Hydrolysis involves the
addition of water (hydro) in
the breakdown (lysis) of large
biological molecules into their
monomers/subunits, e.g.
proteins into amino acids.
(Water is release during
condensation reactions).

WATER
 • Transport
• Water helps transport
dissolved substances such as
glucose, amino Acids into
and out of cells.
• Transport of nutrients, e.g.
glucose and amino acids in
blood, and sucrose in phloem

WATER
 • Excretion
• Water helps excrete waste
through , urination, and
defecation.

WATER
 Water is a solvent for numerous
biochemical molecules giving
solutions and enabling:

Transport of nutrients, e.g.

WATER glucose and amino acids in blood,
and sucrose in phloem.

Removal of excretory products,

e.g. ammonia, urea (urinating,
sweating)
The structure of DNA
 What are chromosomes?

In all living things,

characteristics are passed on
in the chromosomes that
offspring inherit from their
parents.

Chromosomes are located in the nuclei of cells

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What is DNA?
Chromosomes are made of a molecule called DNA.

DNA stands for

deoxyribonucleic
acid.

Each chromosome
is a very long molecule
of tightly-coiled DNA.

DNA molecules carry the code that controls what cells are
made of and what they do.
Which part of a DNA molecule holds this information?

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The structure of DNA

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DNA base pairs
The double helix ‘ladder’ of a DNA molecule is held together
by ‘rungs’ made from pairs of chemicals called bases.

There are four types of bases, and they are usually identified
by their initials.

A adenine

C cytosine

G guanine

T thymine

How do you think the four bases are paired?

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How do bases pair together?
Base pairs hold the two strands of the DNA helix together.
The rules for base pairing are…

‘A’ always pairs with ‘T’ ‘C’ always pairs with ‘G’

A T C G

There are millions of base pairs in a DNA molecule, and

they always follow these rules.

It is the sequence of these bases along a DNA molecule

that forms the genetic code.

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 DNA function

• The sequence of the bases in our DNA provides a code

that is used to determine the kind of protein that are
made in our cells, this in turn determines how our cells,
tissues and organs develop.
• The sequence determines what organism you are, a tree,
a cat,a human as well as the organisms personal
characterististics, such as hair colour, blood group, eye
colour or race

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