Lesson 2.2 Introduction to the chapter

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Introduction to the lesson

In the following lessons we will cover in detail the structure of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins. However, first it is important to understand some basics about biological molecules. There are relatively few simple, key biological molecules which join together to create larger molecules. In this lesson, you will learn some basic features of all biological molecules and the categories into which we classify biological molecules. This is a necessary foundation for the rest of the chapter.

Reading

Read the section “And the winner is...” in your text book (p.28).

Thinking it through

• Why do you think the Nobel prizes are important?
• Why do you think there needs to be a multi-discipline co-operation in the discovery of macromolecules?
• Why do you think physicists and mathematicians can contribute to a branch of study in biology?
• Why do you think a university like Cambridge plays an important role in these discoveries and other research projects?
• Do you think it is important for a country and/or a university to spend money on such research when there is so much poverty in the world? Shouldn’t the money spent on research be better spent on helping the poor?

Introduction to biological molecules

Read p.28-29 in your text book.

Definitions and review