Find an interesting biochemistry website and put its link in this entry, and describe what is found there.

Find an interesting biochemistry website and put its link in this entry, and describe what is found there. 

http://themedicalbiochemistrypage.org/ 

I picked this website because it not only explains in great detail the importance of the topics as it applies to medical applications. For anyone who is looking to get into the medical field this site is great for individual use, studying and for research. This is a good place to go to not only learn the basic building blocks but to examine different biochemical processes that help the body perform correctly and efficiently.This site is definitely not for people who don't have any background in the sciences because there is a lot of abbreviations and  science specific words that would confuse and lose the reader. Overall the website is very informative and i will probably be using it in the future when i don't understand things in this Biochemistry class.

What knowledge has connected with past knowledge?

          

 

 

               Most of what has been taught in class so far has connected and reinforced past knowledge very well. It expanded on the more chemistry side of biology which to me made more sense than general chem because i could apply it to past knowledge. It is always good to cover things like structures and chemical bonds over and over so when using it in a future job or in future research it will be like second nature and it will be much easier to pick out if for example a lipid bi layer is loose because of  double bounded tails on a fatty acid when it should be rigid and tightly arranged. 

              Even if it seems like the information is redundant its the best way to learn it and master it. This class helps to pull together my past classes including Biology 1+2, Genetics, Organic Chemistry, and surprisingly psychology. Many diseases are formed by chromosome malfunctions and deletions.This class is a strong foundation for all science classes and as it seems at least one of the social sciences. It gives a good understanding to what structures and compositions the body has that makes it work properly.

Find a protein using PDB explorer-describe your protein, including what disease state or other real world application it has.

Find a protein using PDB explorer-describe your protein, including what disease state or other real world application it has.

 Anti-freeze Proteins

Picture from (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/101/motm.do?momID=120)

          Anti-freeze proteins are proteins that naturally occur in certain organisms that live in harsh cold climates. When subjected to below freezing conditions an organisms water within its cells will form small ice crystals that will grow larger and larger until it ruptures the cell. Eventually this would lead to death of the organisms. Some adapted organisms like the ocean pout, the winter flounder, the yellow meal-worm beetle, the spruce bud-worm moth and the snow flea have what are called antifreeze proteins. These proteins attach themselves to the small growing ice crystals and slow down if not completely stop the growth of them. It does this by lowering the freezing point  of the water in the cells about 6 degrees which effectively halts the crystals from rupturing the cell thus preserving the organisms health. 

          These proteins have been harvested and used in other applications. For instance anti-freeze proteins have been used in ice cream to keep it from that unpleasant icing which ruins the ice cream. Just as it does in the cells it attaches to any freezing moisture and stops growth by lowering the freezing point. Another thing that is interesting about these proteins is that they lower the freezing point but they do not lower the melting point which normally goes hand in hand with freezing point.

 Sources:

Goodsell, D. (n.d.). Antifreeze Proteins. Retrieved from RCSB PDB-101 database.

 http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/101/motm.do?momID=120