...the main organic molecules found in living things and their structure.
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This image is of a DNA molecule(red) bound to a transcription factor protein(cyan) The blue balls represent water molecules and the cerise structure to the lower left of the image is a ligand. Image made with Protein Explorer and the Chime plug-in for net-scape.
Protein Explorer and Chime coutesy of Rasmol. Visit them today to see this and other molecules and down load free chemical imaging software!
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Macromolecules are large molecules consisting of many thousands of atoms. Many
of the important molecules found in living things are macromolecules. Examples
are large carbohydrates called polysaccharides
such starch and cellulose, Proteins,
and Nucleic acids
such as DNA and RNA. Curiously macromolecules in living things are all constructed
by taking simple molecules and chemically linking them together to make long
chains analgous to box cars on a train. Macromolecules may have a complex threee
dimensional structure. This is especially true for proteins.
The three dimensional structure typically relates to the function of the macromolecule.
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The term monomer refers to the simple molecular building blocks that can be put together in long chains to form macromolecules. Examples of common monomers in biological molecules are glucose, amino acids and nucleotides.
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The term polymer refers to a large molecule made by stringing together many repeating monomers. Polysaccharides, Proteins and Nucleic acids are important polymers.
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Created 8/22/96;Revised 04/04/01 PGD