Deoxyribonucleic acid has two nitrogenous bases: pyrimidines and purines. Purines found in human DNA are guanine and adenine. Xanthine is produced by metabolized guanine, and hypoxanthine is produced by degraded adenine. This information is...
The journal Nature recognizes three main layers of skin: the epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous layer. Each layer is made up of different types of cells that perform a different function. Squamous cells are located just under the epidermal layer,...
Proteins are an essential part of all life forms, and the ability to make new proteins is one of the most important functions for all living cells. Although proteins are essentially made from a few different elements, there are many different...
Most commonly found as deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA, and ribonucleic acid or RNA, nucleic acids are found in all foods derived from living things. RNA consumption has been found beneficial to human health by the Gordon Research Institute, as RNA...
Magnesium is an element with the atomic number 12 and is an essential nutrient for all living cells. It's the fourth most abundant element in the human body and is primarily concentrated in the bones. Magnesium is used by enzymes that are involved...
Human DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, contains the code for making you you. You receive half your DNA from your father and half from your mother. Scientists know certain patterns in DNA point to a greater risk for certain diseases or birth defects....
Magnesium and ribonucleic acid are both important substances that your body uses on a cellular level. However, while magnesium is a mineral that must come from an external source like food, your cells can manufacture the ribonucleic acid that they...
Humans--and all other living organisms--need nucleic acids. The nucleic acids, which include deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, and ribonucleic acid, or RNA, encode genetic information and allow humans and other organisms to follow their genetic...
Nucleic acids are very large biomolecules that encode your genetic information and help the cells produce functional and structural proteins from that genetic information. Your DNA is probably the most familiar of the nucleic acids, but you also...
Your cells consist of many types of molecules that work together to produce functional tissues and organ systems. Lipids -- more commonly known as fats -- proteins, and nucleic acids are three types of large biomolecules. You obtain proteins and...
Nucleic acids are critical to life; they form your genetic material and the structural and functional elements of cells that produce proteins from genetic material. Many people feel that because they're essential to life, you need to obtain them...
The first known antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered by accident in 1928 by Alexander Fleming. Fleming noticed that a mold, from which the antibiotic was derived, killed all the bacteria around the mold. Further study led to the isolation of the...
In Ayurveda, the traditional Indian herbal medicinal practice, turmeric is used to warm and strengthen the body. It is a powerful antibacterial and anti-fungal that helps improve digestion, eliminate worms, cleanse the gallbladder and liver,...
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, radiation is energy traveling in the form of waves or high-speed particles. It is present all around us and comes from the ground, within our bodies and from outer space. Nuclear power plants,...
Lactose is the chemical name for what is more commonly called milk sugar. One of the ways of classifying certain sugars has to do with indicating the number of carbons present; a pentose would be a five-carbon sugar. Lactose, however, is not a...
Ribose is a monosaccharide aldopentose, which means it's a single-sugar unit that has five carbon atoms as part of its chemical structure. Ribose is necessary for formation of ribonucleic acid and production of adenosine triphosphate. It's not a...
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver damage and, in many cases, eventual liver failure. While it's natural to want to find vitamins or natural remedies for hepatitis C to avoid needing treatment with powerful pharmaceutical drugs,...
The pituitary gland, a very small endocrine gland found within the brain, regulates and balances the body’s hormones. The pituitary gland is often referred to as the master gland because of the major role it plays in maintaining the function...
Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is found inside the nucleus of almost every cell in the human body. It provides the instructions needed to build every protein of every tissue and organ. Throughout your lifetime, certain cells retain the ability to...
Coenzyme A, a helper molecule, is a nonprotein chemical substance needed for the activation of some enzymes, the proteins that catalyze or activate important chemical reactions within the body. It is naturally synthesized from pantothenic acid or...
Glucose, fructose and ribose are all sugars. When you consume foods that contain these compounds, you can burn them for energy or use them to make other molecules that serve functional and structural purposes. While glucose and fructose taste...
Lipids, carbohydrates and nucleic acids may all vary in their structure, but they are all important to the human body, for they serve a variety of vital functions. Without them, the cells would not have energy or normal membranes, hormones and...
Nucleic acids are large biomolecules that encode genetic information and help to produce functional and structural proteins from that information. They include the familiar DNA and the less familiar but related molecule, RNA. Nucleic acids are...
Nucleic acids are large biomolecules, and include both DNA and RNA. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is genetic material. RNA, or ribonucleic acid, helps the cells make proteins from DNA. Both types of nucleic acids consist of building blocks called...
Nucleic acids are very large carbon-based molecules that encode genetic information and provide the means by which cells produce functional and structural proteins from that information. You have minimal ability to absorb nucleic acids from the...
Protein synthesis is the process of making proteins from their building block molecules, amino acids. Nucleic acids -- DNA and RNA -- are essential to protein synthesis. DNA provides the instructions a cell uses to make protein, while RNA acts as...
Folic acid is a vitamin and iron is a mineral, but your body needs both of these nutrients. Each serves a different purpose critical for life. Some vitamins, such as prenatal vitamins and multivitamins, contain both of these nutrients in addition...
Your genes, also known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), contribute to defining you as a person. They determine your appearance, your personality and your health condition. Sometimes, environmental or hereditary factors can play a role in...
Radiation--more specifically, ionizing radiation--is a form of energy generated by nuclear phenomena in atoms that is capable of breaking chemical bonds in molecules. Exposure to ionizing radiation, including x-rays and the radiation generated by...
