Proteins as Very Important Molecules - Essay Example

Intro: It seems most people today are overly concerned about how they look, how much they weight, and especially about what they eat. Almost overnight American has become one of the most obese nations, and now everybody is scrambling to keep tabs on their diets and exercise. People try fad diets here and there, but the key to living healthy isn’t always that simple. In order to stay healthy you need to make sure your body’s basic biological needs are being met, and being met well. One important part of the nutrient puzzle, and also meets some of your body’s biological needs is proteins. Proteins are important biological molecules for you and your body’s health, and help keep your body working the way it should. One of the reasons proteins are so important is that they are mad up of amino acids, acids that are necessary for life to function as we know it. While it is true that our bodies can make amino acids by itself, it cannot make all of the amino acids that are needed for life, and must get some of them from the food it consumes. These amino acids thus come from proteins, which should be staples in everybody’s diet. Proteins can come from many different varieties of food, such as meat, egg, grains, and other diary products. These foods are essential to our diet as it is vital to our existence to take these proteins into our bodies so we can use the amino acids they are made up of. Body: Proteins are very important molecules. Without these molecules, biologically speaking, life would not be the same as we understand it today. Proteins are organic compounds that are composed of a chain of amino acids. These amino acids are necessary to life, and important to all living organisms. The proteins themselves take part in almost every single biological operation inside the body, and are important to the lively hood of our cellular structure. Many proteins also help start biochemical reactions, and play important roles in metabolism. Proteins also serve purposes “in the cytoskeleton, which forms a system of scaffolding that maintains cell shape and in cell signaling, immune responses, cell adhesion, and the cell cycle” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein). Proteins are also vital to our diets, as we can not synthesis all the amino acids that are needed for life. We must receive these essential amino acids from the food we intake, and the breaking down of the protein we get from this food into the amino acids we need. The word protein comes from the Greek “prota”, which means “of primary importance.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteinc). However, at first the extreme importance of proteins to the human body was not originally realized. It was not until 1962 when it was discovered how important proteins truly are to the human and animal biological processes. Proteins are polymers made up of a chain of amino acids. Every amino acid has “common structural features including an α carbon to which an amino group, a carboxyl group, and a variable side chain are bonded. Only proline differs from this basic structure, as it contains an unusual ring to the N-end amine group, which forces the CO-NH amide moiety into a fixed conformation” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein). The various amino acids that form together to make up the protein are held together by peptide bonds. These peptide bonds are formed from a dehydration reaction and hold the various amino acids together, to make them a protein. However, these words cannot be used interchangeably; there is a definite difference between a protein, polypeptide, and peptide. These difference lay in the exact definition of the various words;” Protein is generally used to refer to the complete biological molecule in a stable conformation, while peptide is generally reserved for a short amino acid oligomers often lacking a stable 3-dimensional structure. However, the boundary between the two is ill-defined and usually lies near 20-30 residues. Polypeptide can refer to any single linear chain of amino acids, usually regardless of length, but often implies an absence of a single defined conformation.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein). Proteins are put together from the various different amino acids using the myriad of information that is stored in genes. Every unique protein has its very own unique amino acid sequence, and is put together this way by the nucleotide part of the gene, which codes for protein synthesis. This process than “reads” the sequence in the order the protein and amino acids are supposed to be assembled. The process starts when “Genes encoded in DNA are first transcribed into pre-messenger RNA (mRNA) by proteins such as RNA polymerase. Most organisms then process the pre-mRNA (also known as a primary transcript) using various forms of post-transcriptional modification to form the mature mRNA, which is then used as a template for protein synthesis by the ribosome. In prokaryotes the mRNA may either be used as soon as it is produced, or be bound by a ribosome after having moved away from the nucleotide. In contrast, eukaryotes make mRNA in the cell nucleus and then translocate it across the nuclear membrane into the cytoplasm, where protein synthesis then takes place. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein). This process helps our body put together one of the most important molecular and biological molecules that our body needs in order to survive. While most microorganisms are able to make all of their needed proteins, animals must obtain them from the food they take and the rest of their diet. These ‘essential amino acids” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein) need to be taken into the body from an outside source, such as meat, eggs, or other animal products that are high in proteins. These proteins are then broken down by the body, and the essential amino acids are then used, and without these important amino acids and the proteins them come from, our bodies would be lacking in these essential molecules that are needed for our body’s health. Without these molecules out body would not be able to function, this making proteins an important part to include in any diet. Conclusion: While everybody may run around trying to figure our exactly how to stay fit, or exactly what to eat and what not to eat, people must make sure not to forgot proteins, which should be made into an important of every meal. Proteins are made up of amino acids, life necessary acids that we need in order for our body to work. Without these acids many of our body’s functions, systems, and pathways shut down. We would not be able to live without these proteins, and we need to make sure we intake a ample supply of them in order to keep our body healthy. We can get proteins from many of the foods we eat, especially animal products. Proteins can come from egg, milk, cheese, meat, and most of the other dairy and animal bases products we eat. We need to be sure to include these types of foods into out diet so we can keep the supply of essential amino acids up in our body. Amino Acids are however formed inside our body. Through a complicated process of reading DNA and transferring DNA and mRNA, our body is able to produce some, but not all of the amino acids and proteins that are needed for our live. What we need to do, is meet our body half way, and supply ourselves with the remaining essential amino acids. We need these acids to stay healthy, and only with an ample supply of proteins can we make sure to keep our body healthy and working in the way we know it can, and they way we know it should be. . Read More