9781422280485

Protein

and nuts. We might grasp that consuming it has something to do with growing muscle (think about athletes with their protein powders and shakes), but we may not understand how vital it is to almost every other cell function—everything from digestion to fighting off germs to transporting important molecules throughout our bodies. Your hair, outer skin, and fingernails are all made of the stuff; in fact, protein is the second-most plentiful substance in our bodies after water. Proteins carry the oxygen in your blood throughout your body and control the levels of sugar in your blood. With such an important place in our health and human structure, it’s no wonder the word protein comes from the Greek protos , or “first.”

T he B asic C hemistry A protein is a type of macromolecule called a polymer . Polymers are large

molecules, or groups of atoms bonded together, made up of many repeated units. Each of these units is called a monomer . To put it another way, when several identical or similar monomers link together, they form a polymer. This is why they are often called the “building blocks” of polymers. The building blocks of proteins are monomers called amino acids . These are organic compounds, or molecules with at least two different elements. (An example of a compound is water, which is made up of hydrogen and oxygen.) There are hundreds of different types of

Educational Video

The Building Blocks of the Body

Scan this code for a video about how proteins work.

10