MOLECULES OF LIFE
SCIENCE 101
SPRING 1999
By the end of this section you need to be able to address the following:
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What are the four major classes of organic molecules?
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What are the basic subunits of each class of organic molecule? What
is/are the functions of each class of organic molecules in living organisms?
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Which of the four major classes of organic molecules contain nitrogen?
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Suppose you analyzed the nucleic acid of an unknown virus and found that
it consisted of the nucleotides A, G, C, and U. What type of nucleic
acid would you conclude composes the genetic material of this virus?
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Suppose you analyzed the nucleic acid of an unknown virus and discovered
that it consisted of 24% A, 16% T, 15% g, and 45% C. What would you
conclude about this DNA?
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What determines the primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure
of proteins? What bonds maintain each level of structure?
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What types of environmental factors can cause denaturation of proteins?
What bonds are broken first during denaturation?
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What is unique about the chemical formula of carbohydrates?
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What distinguishes a saturated fat from an unsaturated fat? Which
remains liquid at room temperature? Give an example of each.
[Adapted from Trefil, J. and R. M. Hazen. 1995. Instructor's
Manual. The Sciences: An Integrated Approach. John Wiley &
Sons]