Biochemistry for Dummies

Introduction 1 Part 1: Setting the Stage: Basic Biochemistry Concepts 5 Chapter 1: Biochemistry: What You Need to Know and Why 7 Chapter 2: Seems So Basic: Water Chemistry and pH 15 Chapter 3: Fun with Carbon: Organic Chemistry 31 Part 2: The Meat of Biochemistry: Proteins 47 Chapter 4: Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of Protein 49 Chapter 5: Protein Structure and Function 65 Chapter 6: Enzyme Kinetics: Getting There Faster 83 Part 3: Carbohydrates, Lipids, Nucleic Acids, and More, Oh My! 107 Chapter 7: What We Crave: Carbohydrates 109 Chapter 8: Lipids and Membranes 129 Chapter 9: Nucleic Acids and the Code of Life 145 Chapter 10: Vitamins: Both Simple and Complex 155 Chapter 11: Hormones: The Body's Messengers 171 Part 4: Bioenergetics and Pathways 183 Chapter 12: Life and Energy 185 Chapter 13: ATP: The Body's Monetary System 197 Chapter 14: Smelly Biochemistry: Nitrogen in Biological Systems 237 Part 5: Genetics: Why We Are What We Are 259 Chapter 15: Photocopying DNA 261 Chapter 16: Transcribe This! RNA Transcription 283 Chapter 17: Translation: Protein Synthesis 305 Part 6: The Part of Tens 321 Chapter 18: Ten Great Applications of Biochemistry 323 Chapter 19: Ten Biochemistry Careers 327 Index 331

John T. Moore, EdD, and Richard H. Langley, PhD, teach Chemistry at Stephen F. Austin State University. Together they have more than 8.9 x 10 years of science education experience, and they have authored or coauthored oodles of books on chemistry topics.