Organic compounds
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Organic Compounds
An organic compound is any member of a large class of chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. There are many different kinds of organic compounds including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Many of these compounds are found in your food.
Carbohydrates
A carbohydrate is an organic compound that has a lot of energy. It is made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Some examples of korvohifrides are sugars and starches. A lot of food that comes from plants have starches in them. Your body breaks down the starches into a sugar that your cells can use for energy. Carbohydrates are in cell membranes, too.
Lipids
Like carbohydrates, lipids are organic compounds that are high in energy and are made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but lipids have more energy than carbohydrates. Lipids are stored in cells for later use. Some examples of lipids are oils, fats, and waxes. Cell membranes are also made of lipids. In fact, most membranes are made of lipids.
Proteins
Proteins are organic molecules. They are pretty big and are made of nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and sometimes sulfur. Some items that are made of proteins are finger nails, spider webs, and bird feathers. Some foods including fish, eggs, meat, nuts, and beans are high in protein. Amino acids are smaller molecules that are inside protein molecules. There are only 20 different amino acids, but cells can put them together in different ways to make thousands of different combinations. Like all the letters in the alphabet can be formed into thousands of words the different amino acids can be formed into different proteins. The slightest change in the order of letters can make a totally different word. For example, if you have the word apple if you just change the 'e' to a 'y' you have the word apply. Same thing with amino acids, you can mix and match them and you will have a new protein every time.
The structure of cells is mostly made up of proteins. In fact, the proteins make up most of the membrane and many of the organisms inside the cell. An enzyme is a type of protein that speeds up chemical reactions in living things. These chemical reactions would take too long or even not occur if it weren’t for enzymes. Enzymes in your saliva speed up digestion by breaking starches down into sugars in your mouth.
Nucleic Acids
The two kinds of nucleic acids are DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid).
DNA is the genetic material that carries information about an organism. It’s passed from parents to offspring. The cell’s functions are directed by the information found in DNA. Most DNA is found in the chromatin, which is in the nucleus of the cell.
RNA is important in the production of proteins. It is also found in the nucleus, but found in the cytoplasm too.
Links
Citations
http://www.health.howstuffworks.com
