A Level Science Applications Support Booklet: Chemistry
Contents INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................1 1 – THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE .............................................................................................................2 1.1 – Introduction ................................................................................................................................2 1.2 – Protein chemistry .......................................................................................................................6 Proteins – the workhorses of life .....................................................................................................6 Amino acids – the building blocks of proteins .................................................................................7 Structure – the key to protein function ..........................................................................................10 Enzymes – Nature’s catalysts .......................................................................................................16 1.3 – Genetic information..................................................................................................................27 DNA – the source of heredity ........................................................................................................27 The structure of DNA ....................................................................................................................29 The structure of RNA ....................................................................................................................31 Gene expression ...........................................................................................................................32