Chapter 1 BioChem 1
1. What distinguishes living organisms from inanimate objects?
–Living organisms
(1) Are chemically complex and highly organized
(2) Extract, transform and use energy from their environment
(3) Have the capacity to precisely self-replicate and self assemble
(4) Exploit a chemical interplay with their environments
(5) Posses programmatically defined functions
(6) Evolve to new forms over many generations
3. What sets the lower limits of size cell? The upper Limit?
–The lower limit is probably set by the minimum number of each type of
biomolecule required by the cell.
-The smallest cells, certain bacteria known as mycoplasmas, are 300 nm in
diameter and have volume of about 10^-14 mL.
– The upper limit of cell size is probably set by the rate of diffusion of solute
molecules in aqueous systems.
-for example a bacterial cell that depends on oxygen consuming reactions for
energy production must obtain molecular oxygen by diffusion from the
