What do you see when you look at this picture? Is it just a mass of tangled ribbons? Look closely. It’s actually a complex pattern of three-dimensional shapes. It represents the structure of a common chemical found inside living cells. The chemical is a protein called hemoglobin. It is the protein in red blood cells which transports oxygen around the body. What are proteins? What other chemicals are found in living things? You will learn the answers to these questions as you read about the chemistry of life.
Chapter Outline
Changes / edits were made to the original CK-12 biology text by Guest Hollow. Changes are not endorsed by CK-12 in any way.
Opening image created by CK-12 Foundation from 1hkx.pdb (http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/explore/explore.do?structureId=1hkx) using UCSF Chimera (http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimera). CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0.
For Table in chapter 2, from top to bottom:
- United States Department of Agriculture.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Potatoes.jpg. Public Domain.
- Image copyright Convit, 2012. http://www.shutterstock.com. Used under license from Shutterstock.com.
- Image copyright Jubal Harshaw, 2011. http://www.shutterstock.com. Used under license from Shutterstock.com.
- Hafiz Issadeen (Flickr: YIM Hafiz). http://www.flickr.com/photos/yimhafiz/2547531809/. CC-BY 2.0.
