Our bodies are made up of many tiny units called cells. These cells make up our organs, which in turn, make up the human body. But have you ever asked yourself, “What are cells made of?”. Well, cells are made up of even smaller units called macromolecules. These macromolecules can be divided in 4 main groups: lipids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and proteins. All four of these are very important since these are what let cells function to their full capacity. The macromolecule that will be explained here will be the protein.
Proteins are molecules that have many different functions inside the human body. One of the key things about proteins is that structure defines function. What this means is that for every different form a protein has, there is a different function. With so many things our bodies can do, you can only imagine that we have so many proteins inside our bodies.
Having so many of these proteins is amazing, but as functional as they are, proteins are also really sensitive. This is why we have to always eat healthy and do exercise, so that our bodies can keep producing healthy proteins. This is also the reason why we should avoid doing any drugs or drinking energy drinks, since these can damage our proteins leading to our cells being damaged. So in all, we should take care of our bodies, so that our cells can create healthy proteins and we can keep growing healthy.
Author: Kristos I. Negrón
References:
Nelson, D. L., & Cox, M. M. (2013). Principles of Biochemistry. New York
City: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Pollard, T. D., & Earnshaw, W. C. (2008). Cell Biology. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Having so many of these proteins is amazing, but as functional as they are, proteins are also really sensitive. This is why we have to always eat healthy and do exercise, so that our bodies can keep producing healthy proteins. This is also the reason why we should avoid doing any drugs or drinking energy drinks, since these can damage our proteins leading to our cells being damaged. So in all, we should take care of our bodies, so that our cells can create healthy proteins and we can keep growing healthy.
Author: Kristos I. Negrón
References:
Nelson, D. L., & Cox, M. M. (2013). Principles of Biochemistry. New York
City: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Pollard, T. D., & Earnshaw, W. C. (2008). Cell Biology. Philadelphia: Saunders.