introduction to biochemistry lecture,pdf

lecture biochem

1. BIOCHEMISTRY
WEEK 1
INTRODUCTION
Phoebe B. Toyokan

2. Learning Outcomes
Summarize the importance of biochemistry in the
healthcare setting
Review the different functional groups and chemical
equations
Compare the major biomolecules in the human body.
Identify historical milestones in biochemistry

4. What is it?
Biochemistryis the application of chemistry to the
study of biological processes at the cellular and
molecular level (McGill University, 2020).
Also called as biological chemistry or physiological
chemistryis the study of chemical processes in the
living organisms.
It can also be defined as the study of molecular basis
of life.

5. What does it teach us?
Biochemistry teaches how the
biological molecules like
carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic
acids gives rise to different chemical
processes in the living cell which in
turn gives rise to the complexity of life

6. HISTORY
It emerged as a distinct discipline around the beginning
of the 20th century when scientists combined chemistry,
physiology, and biology to investigate the chemistry of
living systems.
-Liebig who isolated tyrosine in 1846 (Quastel, 1985 p.18)
-1901,[Frederick Gowland] Hopkins, with his student Cole,
discovered tryptophanas a constituent of a great many
proteins (Quastel, 1985 p.18)

7. HISTORY
Biochemistry was coined in 1903 by a German chemist
named Carl Neuber(Singh, Batra, & Naithani2004).
-“Folinand Denis, in U.S.A., proved by direct chemical analysis
that it is the simple amino acids rather than more complex
substances that are absorbed into the bloodstream” (Quastel,
1985 p.18)
-“In 1912, Funk had put forward the theory that beriberi, scurvy,
pellagra, and perhaps rickets were caused by a deficiency or
lack in diet of special substances, possibly organic bases, that
he called vitamins.” (Quastel, 1985 p.18)

8. “1912 Cohnheimerand Loewi demonstrated [the]
intestinal breakdown of proteins to amino acids which
reformed body-proteins” (Quastel, 1985 p.18)

9. SIGNIFICANCE IN
NURSING
It is very essential that a
nurse being a medical
professional, study and
understand biochemistry in
order to care for their
patients.

10. More…
Knowing the normal processes that occur
within the body will helps us to identify the
alterations that can occur during disease
conditions so that an effective medical
treatment can be facilitated
Biochemistry teaches about homeostasis
and electrolyte balance and a nurse should
understand the importance of it in the body.

11. The various biochemical tests like blood test,
kidney function test, liver function test, lipid
profile, will help the nurse to diagnose diseases
and the test results will help in assessing the
needs of the patient to provide an effective
care.
Every drug has a biochemical action and this
knowledge will help in selecting the
appropriate doses and the duration of
treatment a patient requires

12. Nutritional biochemistry teaches the relation between
health, diet and disease. It focuses on how each nutrient
functions metabolically and biochemically. Using
biochemical tools nutritional deficiency diseases can be
diagnosed.
In a nutshell, Biochemistry is important in nursing because it
gives knowledge about normal chemical process within the
living cells and any change in it helps in the diagnosis of
disease, thereby helping the nurse to provide an effective
care to the patient.

13. Murray (2009, p.3)

14. Murray 2009, p.3

15. Biomolecules
any of numerous substances that are produced by
cellsand living organisms.
have a wide range of sizes and structures and
perform a vast array of functions.
The four major types of biomolecules are
carbohydrates,
lipids,
nucleic acids
proteins
(Rogers, n.d.)

16. Biomolecule Building Blocks Linkages Metabolism
Carbohydrat
es
MonosaccharidesGlycosidic
bond
Broken down
through
glycolysis
Lipids Glycerol and fatty
acids
Ester bonds Emulsification
by bile
Proteins Amino acids Peptide bondsTransaminati
on and
deamination
Nucleic
acids
Nucleotides Phosphodiester
bonds
Pancreatic
enzymes