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Delve deeper into DNA replication, learning that a process called genetic recombination assures that no two individuals will have the same DNA, unless they are twins derived from a single fertilized egg. Trace the new technologies that have arisen from our understanding of recombination and repair of DNA, notably CRISPR, which permits precise alteration of gene sequences.
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Take a tour through the 20 amino acids that link together in different combinations and sequences to build proteins. Besides water, proteins are the most abundant molecules in all known forms of life. Also the most diverse class of biological molecules, proteins make up everything from enzymes and hormones to antibodies and muscle cells.
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See how cells manage complex and interconnected metabolic pathways, especially in response to exercise and a sedentary lifestyle. Then discover the secret of warm-blooded animals and what newborn babies have in common with hibernating grizzly bears (with lessons for combatting obesity). Also, learn about a drug from the 1930s that helped people burn fat in their sleep, as it killed them.
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Cellular communication depends on specific molecular interactions, where the message and the receiver are biomolecules. Follow this process for signaling molecules such as the hormones epinephrine, adrenalin, and epidermal growth factor, which stimulates cells to divide. Cellular signaling is like the children's game called telephone, except the message is usually conveyed accurately!
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Focus on DNA's ability to replicate by matching complementary base pairs to separated strands of the helix. Several specialized enzymes are involved, as well as temporary segments of RNA. Explore this process in bacteria. Then investigate the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a Nobel Prize-winning technique for copying DNA segments in the lab, which has sparked a biotechnology revolution.
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The word "cholesterol" evokes fear in anyone worried about coronary artery disease. But what is this ubiquitous lipid and how harmful is it? Examine the key steps in cholesterol synthesis, learn about its important role in membranes, and discover where LDLs ("bad" cholesterol) and HDLs ("good") come from. It isn't cholesterol alone that is plugging arteries in atherosclerosis.
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Cells go to great lengths to prevent mutations. Luckily, these measures are not quite perfect, since nature relies on mutations to drive evolution. Study the methods that cells use to minimize alterations to their DNA. Find that DNA repair can interfere with cancer treatment, when the malignant cells survive medical therapy by repairing their DNA faster than the treatment can halt the repair.
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When you touch a hot stove, you recoil instantly. How do nerve cells process information so quickly? Trace nerve impulses (which involve electrical signals and neurotransmitters) as they pass from neuron to neuron, and from neuron to muscle cells. Study molecules that block nerve transmissions, such as snake venom and Botox treatments, and look at the role of dopamine in addiction behaviors.
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Explore the controls that determine which genes are expressed at a given time, where in the body, and to what extent. Controls that act over and above the information in DNA are called epigenetic, and they can be passed on to offspring for a generation or two. Consider the case of honeybees, where a special food affects which genes are expressed, turning an ordinary larva into a queen bee.
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Probe the biochemistry of sugars that provide us with instant energy, feed our brains, direct proteins to their destinations, and communicate the identity of our cells. On the other hand, when present in large quantities, they can lead to Type 2 diabetes, and the wrong sugar markers on transfused blood cells can even kill us.
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Investigate why water is so singularly suited to life. Composed of two hydrogen atoms for each oxygen atom, water molecules have a polar charge due to the uneven arrangement of shared electrons. See how this simple feature allows water to dissolve sugars and salts, while leaving oils and fats untouched. Also learn what makes water solutions acidic or basic.
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Lipids are a varied group of molecules that include fats, oils, waxes, steroids, hormones, and some vitamins. Survey the fats that obsess us in our diets and body shapes, notably triglycerides in their saturated and unsaturated forms. Then explore the role lipids play in energy storage and cell membrane structure, and cover the multitude of health benefits of the lipid vitamins: A, D, E, and K.
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Thus far, your investigations have accounted for only part of the energy available from food. So where's all the ATP? In this episode, see how ATP is produced in abundance in both animal and plant cells, largely via mitochondria (in animals and plants) and chloroplasts (in plants only). You also learn why we need oxygen to stay alive and how poisons such as cyanide do their deadly work.
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Study how plants use sunlight and reduction reactions to build carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water. This synthesis of food from air and water occurs in a series of reactions called the Calvin cycle. While humans exploit plants for food and fiber, we also utilize a multitude of other plant molecules called secondary metabolites. These include flavors, dyes, caffeine, and even catnip.
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The products from the reactions in the previous lecture now enter the Krebs citric acid cycle. The outcome of these reactions, in turn, link to many other pathways, with the Krebs cycle serving as the hub directing the intricate traffic of metabolic intermediates. After decoding the Krebs cycle, use it to illuminate a deep mystery about cancer cells, which suggests new therapies for the disease.
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Witness how structure and function are related in enzymes, which are a group of proteins that stimulate biochemical reactions to run at astonishing speed. One example is OMP decarboxylase, an enzyme that produces a crucial component of DNA in a blistering 0.02 second, versus the 78 million years that the reaction would normally take! Analyze the mechanisms behind these apparent superpowers.
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Examine the cell cycle of eukaryotic cells and the cycle's effect on DNA replication. Discover that a quirk in the copying of linear DNA leads to the shrinking of chromosomes as cells age, a problem reversed in egg and sperm cells by the telomerase enzyme. For this reason, telomerase might appear to be the secret to immortality except its unregulated presence in cells can lead to cancer.
18) Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: How Life Works: Recycling Nitrogen: Amino Acids, Nucleotides
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Nitrogen is a key component of amino acids, DNA, and RNA, yet animal and plant cells are unable to extract free nitrogen from air. See how bacteria come to the rescue. Then follow the flow of nitrogen from bacteria to plants to us. Also look at strategies for reducing our reliance on environmentally unsound nitrogen fertilizers by exploiting the secret of 16-feet-tall corn plants found in Mexico.
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Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from lungs to tissues and then takes away carbon dioxide for exhalation. Learn how structure is the key to this complicated and vital function. Also see how variant forms of hemoglobin, such as fetal hemoglobin and the mutation behind sickle cell anemia, can have life-saving or fatal consequences - all depending on structure.
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Advance into the last third of the series, where you cover molecular biology, which deals with the biochemistry of reproduction. Zero in on DNA and how its double-helix structure relates to its function. Then look at the single-stranded RNA molecule, which is a central link in the process, "DNA makes RNA makes protein." Also consider how viruses flourish with very little DNA or RNA.
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