What is biochemistry, and how does it differ from the fields of genetics, biology, chemistry, and molecular biology?
Biochemistry is the field of study that includes the chemical reactions in all living systems, structures of and the composition of those systems. Biochemistry differs from the other science field's because it combines the ideas of both the biological side of living systems and it shows chemically how the systems exist and function. It also deals heavily with the 4 main classes of biochemical molecules which are carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids.
Genetics is a discipline based on genes and
heredity that uses genes and probability to show inheritance through various sexual and asexual forms for reproduction. Biology differs from Biochemistry because it only includes the study of an organisms growth, structure, function and evolution, when Biochemistry goes into depth on how chemically these all happen within a living organism. Chemistry is the discipline that shows the composition, structure and what properties govern molecular systems which isn't specific to living organisms. Molecular Biology is the study of the function of Macromolecules which are present in living systems and are necessary to sustain life including DNA and RNA.
Sources:
A. S. L. Hu, "Biochemistry," in AccessScience, ©McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008, http://www.accessscience.com
