SONGBond, Fold, Function
A song about how proteins get their shape, from amino acid side chains to quaternary structure.
Topic
Chemistry of Life
Chemistry of life examines the molecules that build and run living systems, including water, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Understanding how structure determines function at the molecular level explains why enzymes catalyze and membranes separate.
14 interactives
SONG
LABEnzyme Lock and Key Interactive
Enzymes are proteins that speed up the chemical reactions life depends on, and each one only acts on a…
SIMFood Guesser
Every food carries its own mix of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and other nutrients, and that…
SIMGlycogen Hydrolysis Lab
Animals store energy as glycogen, a branched polymer of glucose whose bonds form when water is removed…
QUIZMembrane Fatty Acid Explorer
A cell membrane has to stay fluid to work, but cold makes the fatty acid tails of its phospholipids pack…
GAMEMolecule Mania
Living things are built from four main classes of large molecule: proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and…
SONGMonomer to Monomer
A song about dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis, the paired reactions that build and break polymers.
3DProtein Builder
A protein begins as a chain of amino acids, but the order of those amino acids decides how the chain…
3DProtein Visualizer
A protein's shape decides what it can do, from copying DNA to letting a virus latch onto a host cell.…
SONGSmooth Flow
A song about lipids, and how double bonds in fatty acids control whether a fat stays fluid.
SONGSPONCH
A song about the six elements that make up living things and where each one shows up.
SONGWater in the Summertime
A summer-memory song that doubles as a walkthrough of water polarity, hydrogen bonding, and why biology…
QUIZWater Properties Explorer
Water behaves strangely for such a small molecule, and life depends on it. Its polar structure lets…
SONGYou Are Like Carbohydrates
A song about carbohydrate structure, from single sugars to branched polysaccharides.