Bio Chemistry

BIOCHEMISTRY 3(2+1)

Lesson 31 : Biochemical energetics and biological oxidation

Biochemical Energetic

The production of energy, its storage, and its use are as central to the economy of the cell as they are to the management of the world's resources. Cells require energy to do all their work, including the synthesis of sugars from carbon dioxide and water in photosynthesis, the contraction of muscles, and the replication of DNA. Energy may be defined as the ability to do work, a concept that is easy to grasp when it is applied to automobile engines and electric power plants. When we consider the energy associated with chemical bonds and chemical reactions within cells, however, the concept of work becomes less intuitive.