por The branches of biochemistry They are structural biochemistry, bioorganic chemistry, enzymology, metabolic biochemistry, xenobiochemistry, immunology, neurochemistry, chemotaxonomy, and chemical ecology, among many others.
Biochemistry is the branch of biology that explores the chemical processes within and related to living organisms. It is a science developed in the laboratory that includes biology and chemistry. By using chemical knowledge and techniques, biochemists can understand and solve biological problems.
Biochemistry focuses on processes that occur at the molecular level. It focuses on what is happening inside cells, studying components such as proteins, lipids, and organelles.
It also looks at how cells communicate with each other, for example, during growth or fighting disease.
Biochemists need to understand how the structure of a molecule is related to its function, allowing them to predict how the molecules will interact.
This discipline encompasses a range of scientific branches, including genetics, microbiology, forensics, plant science, and medicine.
Because of its breadth, biochemistry is very important, and the advances in this field of science in the last 100 years have been astounding.
Main branches of biochemistry
Due to the great diversity of its approaches, biochemistry has been derived into branches that have specific objects of study.
structural biochemistry
Structural biochemistry is a branch of the life sciences that combines biology, physics, and chemistry to study living organisms, and to summarize some principles that all forms of life share.
It also refers more generally to biochemistry. Biochemists aim to describe in molecular terms the structures, mechanisms, and chemical processes shared by all organisms, providing organizing principles that underlie life in all its various forms.
bioorganic chemistry
Bioorganic chemistry is a rapidly growing scientific discipline that combines organic chemistry and biochemistry. It deals with the study of biological processes using chemical methods.
While biochemistry aims at understanding biological processes using chemistry, bioorganic chemistry attempts to expand organic-chemical investigations (ie, structures, synthesis, and kinetics) into biology.
By investigating metallo-enzymes and cofactors, bioorganic chemistry overlaps with bioinorganic chemistry. Biophysical organic chemistry is a term used when trying to describe the intimate details of molecular recognition by bioorganic chemistry.
enzymology
Enzymology is the branch of biochemistry that studies enzymes, their kinetics, structure and function, as well as the relationship between them.
metabolic biochemistry
It is the branch of biochemistry that studies the generation of metabolic energy in higher organisms with emphasis on its regulation at the molecular, cellular, and organ levels.
Chemical concepts and mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis are also emphasized. Includes selected topics on:
– Metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and nitrogen.
– Complex lipids and biological membranes.
– Transduction of the hormonal signal and others.
xenobiochemistry
Xenobiochemistry studies the metabolic conversion of xenobiotics, especially drugs and environmental pollutants.
Xenobiochemistry explains the pharmacological and toxicological consequences of the presence of xenobiotics in the living organism.
Simultaneously, xenobiochemistry creates a scientific basis for the skilled activity of pharmacists and bioanalyticalists in the field of laboratory monitoring of drug levels.
Immunology
Immunology is a branch of biochemistry that covers the study of immune systems in all organisms. It was the Russian biologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov who promoted studies on immunology and received the Nobel Prize in 1908 for his work.
He embedded a rose thorn into a starfish and observed that, 24 hours later, the cells surrounded the tip.
It was an active response of the body, trying to maintain its integrity. It was Mechnikov who first observed the phenomenon of phagocytosis, in which the body defends itself against a foreign body. He also coined the term.
Immunology classifies, measures and contextualizes:
– The physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and disease.
– Malfunctioning of the immune system in immunological disorders.
– The physical, chemical and physiological characteristics of the components of the immune system in vitro, in situ and in vivo.
Immunology has applications in numerous disciplines of medicine, particularly in the fields of organ transplantation, oncology, virology, bacteriology, parasitology, psychiatry, and dermatology.
neurochemistry
Neurochemistry is the branch of biochemistry that studies neurochemicals, including neurotransmitters and other molecules such as psychoactive drugs and neuropeptides, that influence the function of neurons.
This field within neuroscience examines how neurochemicals influence the functioning of neurons, synapses, and neural networks.
Neurochemists discuss the biochemistry and molecular biology of organic compounds in the nervous system and their roles in neural processes such as cortical plasticity, neurogenesis, and neural differentiation.
chemotaxonomy
Merriam-Webster defines chemotaxonomy as the method of biological classification based on similarities in the structure of certain compounds between the organisms being classified.
Supporters argue that because proteins are more tightly controlled by genes and less subject to natural selection than anatomical features, they are more reliable indicators of genetic relationships.
The most studied compounds are proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids, peptides, among others.
chemical ecology
Chemical ecology is the study of interactions between organisms and between organisms and their environment, involving specific molecules or groups of molecules called semiochemicals, which function as signals to initiate, modulate, or terminate a variety of biological processes.
Molecules that serve in such roles are typically low molecular mass, easily diffusible organic substances that derive from secondary metabolic pathways, but also include peptides and other natural products.
Semiochemical-mediated ecological chemical processes include those that are intraspecific (a species) or that are interspecific (occurring between species).
A variety of functional subtypes of signals are known, including pheromones, allomones, kairomones, attractants, and repellants.
Endocrinology
It focuses on the secretion of internal substances called hormones, produced by specialized glands, whose purpose is to affect the function of other cells. Studies the biosynthesis, storage, and function of hormones, the cells that excrete them, and the mechanisms of hormone signaling.
Virology
It is in charge of studying very elementary biosystems: viruses, for their recognition and classification, and understanding their molecular structure, and consequently, their behavior. It also studies possible drugs and vaccines, as well as the variation and combination of viral genomes.
Molecular Genetic
Study genes, heredity and their expression. It focuses on DNA and RNA, how they are replicated and translated into proteins.
References
Eldra P. Solomon; Linda R. Berg; Diana W. Martin (2007). Biology. International Student Edition. Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Fromm, HJ, Hargrove, M. (2012). Essentials of Biochemistry. Springer.