Emergence of Biochemistry

1. The document discusses an assignment that involves reviewing a presentation, watching an educational video on biochemistry, and writing a reflective essay. 2. It then discusses an activity to select one of five major world issues that could be addressed through biochemistry and writing a brief discussion on how biochemistry could help solve the selected issue. 3. The document ends by discussing the importance of newborn screening tests and reasons for agreeing to have one's own child screened, as well as brief discussions of important applications of biochemistry in medicine, agriculture, nutrition, pharmacy, and conservation issues.

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Emergence of Biochemistry

Uploaded by

Jhon Rey Lagos

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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Assignment

1. Review ppt. 02

2. Watch properly the given video entitled Introduction to Biochemistry uploaded by Frank
Gregorio on YouTube, https://bit.ly/biochemintro (the link was already given to you
earlier)

3. In your notebooks, present your reflective essay.

I realized after watching the video that chemistry is simple the study of commonplace
chemicals that are all around us and widely available, and that they may be applied in real life.
We may learn a lot about the world around us by studying various parts of chemistry. We can
also grasp how things work and what we can do to solve simple home - related concerns. If we
pay attention, we can find chemistry everywhere around us. Chemical reactions occurs constantly
within our bodies and in our natural environment. We may not be aware of them unless we study
or read about them and then comprehend them.

Activity 01
Relevance of Biochemistry
This activity requires you to access a website (through this link: https://bit.ly/334Y0yE)
which enumerates (there are 5) and explains some of the world’s most pressing issues/problems.
Kindly go over these issues/problems and select one which you think could be addressed through
the help of biochemistry. Write a brief discussion of the problem/issue that you have chosen and
how biochemistry could help in addressing it

1. The climate crisis

Biochemists all around the world are working hard to incorporate green chemistry
concepts to create and produce safer chemicals and products that are not damaging to humans or
the environment. Green chemistry, in addition to being better for the environment, is also well-
positioned to assist the bottom line, with less waste and faster, more energy- efficient production
processes. Add to that improved yields and a shift away from reliance on resource scarcity like
petroleum products - reducing their depletion - and it avoids the risks and price fluctuations
connected with hydrocarbon use.

2. Biodiversity loss and species extinction

Wildlife conservation and protection is a serious concern all over the world. Smugglers
and hunters are major threats. Reproductive procedures are utilized to clone many livestock
species and have also been proven to be promise for increasing the population of wild animals.
Somatic cell banking, sperm, oocyte, and embryo banking are all expressly beneficial in the
conservation of wild species. When employed in wild animals, nuclear transfer cloning has had
minimal success. The underlying technical causes should be addressed. Many practical issues
arise from the lack of information about the basic reproductive biology of endangered species.

3. Marine ecosystem deterioration

Marine scientists who see comparable biochemical processes in vastly diverse species
have found biochemistry to be valuable. Although coral reef deterioration and bleaching is a
critical issue with fatal repercussions, the more study and knowledge acquired, the better-
equipped environmentalists are to resist it. The better we understand the biochemistry of marine
life and how changes influence it, the better we can minimize habitat and species loss.

4. The hunger crisis and water scarcity

Biochemistry disciplines will play an important part in crop protection by developing
innovative products to protect crops from pests and diseases. Improving our understanding of
soil to better utilize this vital resource. Improving the rate at which plants get essential nutrients.
Biotechnology has enormous potential for the developing countries. High-yielding, disease- and
pest-resistant crops will have a direct impact on food security, poverty reduction, and
environmental protection. The global biotechnology sector has directed the great majority of its
resources into a small number of goods with enormous, secure markets in the First World – items
with little relevance to the needs of the world's hungry. Biotechnology offers applications that
have the potential to greatly reduce global hunger.

5. Children’s health and education

Many children throughout the world are unable to meet their fundamental human
requirements. This includes food, education, and health care. Biochemistry has also contributed to
the understanding of how nutrients affect the growth, development, and function of cells and
tissues. Nutrients have been proven in studies to influence cellular homeostasis. Stress reactions
have also been found in studies to interact with this relationship and induce the illness. This line
of study might be very useful in establishing new preventative strategies for a variety of physical
ailments. Biochemistry is assisting in the discovery of the relationship between nutrition and
numerous bodily processes, therefore elucidating how what we eat is related to illness.
Relevance of Biochemistry
To various fields
- The newborn screening test allows health professionals to detect rare genetic, metabolic, or
hormonal conditions in newborn babies using a simple blood test, anchored on biochemical
principles.

- diseases may threaten the survival of the child as they lead to serious health problems

- Early detection allows the doctor and the child’s parents to make informed decisions on
numerous aspects of the child’s life such as his diet and medical needs.

Assignment
In the near future that you already have your own child(son or daughter), will you agree to
have him screened? Reason out.

I agree because it allows us to identify newborns who have major medical issues so that
they may receive therapy as soon as possible. The newborn screening program is significant
because it supports health care workers in the diagnosis and prevention of a variety of life-
threatening disorders, pathologies, and other health problems. With the assistance of newborn
screening professionals in the healthcare field, vital data on where additional testing should be
advised can be obtained.

Discuss concisely the important applications of biochemistry in the given fields

Medicine

Biochemistry is an important subject in medicine; without it, there would

have been no progress in the discipline. Biochemistry assists in understanding the metabolic
alterations and associated physiological changes that occur in the body during infection or
sickness. The physician can get insight into the metabolic alterations and related illnesses based
on the symptoms presented by the patient. For example, if a patient complains of stiffness in tiny
joints, the doctor may suspect gout and confirm it by analyzing uric acid levels in the blood, as
uric acid buildup in the blood causes gout.

Agriculture

Biochemistry is being used by scientists to create disease prevention measures to assist

farmers in producing more crops at each harvest. Plants have evolved complex defensive systems
to defend themselves from pests and pathogens that cause illness. Plants have physical barriers
that protect them from disease-initiating pathogens as the first line of defense. When this barrier
of protection is breached, plant receptors activate signaling pathways, activating defensive
response genes. Plant immune systems may identify invading chemicals and respond defensively,
triggering processes involving several genes.

Nutrition

Biochemistry is also used to help determine precise food chemistry in the setting of food
contamination. Biochemistry is also important in nutrient value assays, which determine the
amount or concentrations of nutrients in various types of meals ingested.

Pharmacy

The effects of pharmaceuticals on biochemical pathways underlying pharmacokinetic

and pharmacodynamic processes, as well as the consequent therapeutic and toxicological
processes, are the focus of biochemical pharmacology. However, the pharmaceutical process is
outside the scope of biochemical pharmacology.

Conservation Issues

Biochemistry combines biology and chemistry to study living matter. It powers

scientific and medical discovery in fields such as pharmaceuticals, forensics and nutrition. With
biochemistry, you will study chemical reactions at a molecular level to better understand the
world and develop new ways to harness these