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BIOCHEMISTRY

The chemistry of life, or "biochemistry" as chemists call it, is an area in which the classical fields of chemistry and biology meet. It can be called, molecular biology. Biochemistry is the study of the structures and reactions of the thousands of compounds involved in life process. It is considered to be the most complex area of chemistry.

Living things are supposed to represent the most efficient, sophisticated, compact chemical "factories" ever known. How, for example, do cells of the body know when to divide and multiply into new cells having the same characteristics as the original cells? When the body is afflicted by disease or by a wound how does the body protect itself and repair the damage? We know these processes to involve thousands of different chemical compounds.

When we compare the nervous system to electronic computers the efficiency and complexity of the biological systems become even more impressive. Despite great advances in computer technology, the greatest computer ever built is almost insignificant being compared to a human brain weighing little more than a kilogram. A computer can perform mathematical operations millions of times faster than a person, but think of some of the things the nervous system can do. For example, it can cause your arm to reach out and touch an object. The brain can translate signals from the retina of the eyes into three dimensional colour images. As to the storage capacity the brain really wins out. The largest computers have storage capacity of about one million "words" but some experts believe the brain, to store up all the signals it receives.

The chemical processes of our bodies involve enormously complex sequences of reactions, details of these processes being far from complete understanding. Nevertheless great progress has been made in our understanding of the processes that occur in the body.

The first half of this century might be termed the Golden Age of Physics because so many discoveries in understanding the structure of molecules, atoms and nuclei were made. By the same virtue we may be in the midst of a Golden Age in Biochemistry. The next few years of research may bring much increased understanding of chemical processes in cells.

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