A Qualitative Action Research on the Benefits of
Biomolecules in your Body
By: Ramona Grace Simera
Introduction
Biomolecule, also known as a biological molecule, any of the various compounds
formed by cells and living organisms. Biomolecules have a wide range of structures and
sizes and perform a wide range of functions. Carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and
proteins are the four main categories of biomolecules.
Biomolecules are essential to the functioning of living organisms. Several
macromolecules (protein, carbohydrate, nucleic acids and enzymes) and small molecules
(amino acids, vitamins, fatty acids, neurotransmitters and hormones) come under the
group of biomolecules. These molecules induce or activate large biochemical reactions in
living organisms. In researching biomolecules, one can understand the physiological
mechanism that governs the proper growth and development of the human body.
Biomolecules can be either endogenous or exogenous depending on the biological
mechanism involved. Biomolecules may involve a variety of processes, such as energy
storage (carbohydrates), catalyzing biochemical reactions (hormones),
storing/transmitting genetic codes (RNA/DNA) or modifying biological and neurological
activities (neurotransmitters/hormones). Dietary compounds are most essential for proper
growth and cell activity, since amino acids are the primary component of all dietary foods.
When food is eaten, it is broken down into the respective amino acids and converted into
proteins in the body. Both biological processes include the proper functioning of
carbohydrates/amino acids and the regulation of growth. Inadequate intake of
carbohydrates and amino acids can contribute to different forms of health issues. In
addition, low levels of vitamin intake or excessive secretion of hormones may contribute to
disease, since they are involved in core physiological processes such as growth control and
signaling pathways. It is also very important to track the biomolecules found in the human
body.
Body
Biomolecules are important in our body because they are the materials responsible
for maintaining and reproducing the cells that make up the body. They are involved in a
number of processes that work to provide the materials needed for cell repair and
metabolism processes.
In biomolecules, nucleic acids, namely DNA and RNA, have the special purpose of
storing the genetic code of the organism—a series of nucleotides that specifies the
sequence of protein amino acids that are of essential significance to life on Earth. There are
20 distinct amino acids that can appear within a protein; the order in which they occur
plays a key role in deciding protein structure and function. Proteins themselves are the
main structural components in cells. They also serve as transporters, carbohydrates and
other molecules in and out of cells, and as enzymes and catalysts for the vast majority of
chemical reactions occurring in living organisms. Proteins also form antibodies and
hormones that control gene function.
Likewise, carbohydrates, composed predominantly of molecules containing carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, are critical energy sources and structural elements of all life,
and are among the most abundant biomolecules on Earth. They are made from four types
of sugar units—monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides.
Lipids, another essential biomolecule in living organisms, perform a number of functions,
including serving as a reservoir of stored energy and acting as chemical messengers. They
often form membranes that distinguish cells from their surroundings and
compartmentalize the cell interior, giving rise to organelles, such as the nucleus and
mitochondria, in higher more complex species.
Conclusion
All biomolecules share in common a fundamental relationship between structure
and function, which is influenced by factors such as the environment in which a given
biomolecule occurs. Lipids, for example, are hydrophobic (“water-fearing”); in water, many
spontaneously arrange themselves in such a way that the hydrophobic ends of the
molecules are protected from the water, while the hydrophilic ends are exposed to the
water. This structure results in lipid bilayers, or two layers of phospholipid molecules that
form the membranes of cells and organelles. In another example, DNA, which is a very long
molecule—in humans, the combined length of all DNA molecules in a single cell extended
end to end will be around 1.8 meters (6 feet), while the cell nucleus is around 6 μm (6 10-6
meters) in diameter—has a very flexible helical structure that allows the molecule to be
tightly coiled and looped. This structural feature plays a key role in enabling DNA to fit in
the cell nucleus, where it carries out its function in coding genetic traits.
