http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/matter_energy/biochemistry/

This is a website which reports on the latest news in the field of biochemistry. It includes links to images, videos, as well as articles on recent studies.  The articles included are related to a variety of topics such as health and medicine, plants and animals, earth and climate, matter and energy as well as many more.  One interesting inclusion in addition to those already addressed is the fact that you can email the editors with questions in regards to topics published.

During the past few lectures we have discussed a lot about proteins.  I have encountered such a topic in the past classes Biology 1 & 2 as well as Anatomy and Physiology 1 & 2.  Some of the relative topics include the different structures of proteins, primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary, and the different types of amino acids.  I have also previous learned about the composition of amino acids and how they are translated from RNA which is transcribed from the nucleic acids in DNA.  Such nucleic acids in DNA are adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine.  RNA is composed of the same nucleic acids except for thymine, which rather is transcribed into uracil.  From another class, chemistry 1 & 2, I have learned about the different bonds, ionic, covalent, and hydrogen, that hold the formed macromolecules together. However, this semester I have learned about a new type of interaction know as sulfide bonding which I did not previously know about.

Prions are naturally synthesized glycoproteins.  They contain two carbohydrate chains and a lipid base which connects to the protein portion of the cell membranes of nervous tissue.  A unique characteristic to all forms is one which may have deadly consequences.  When the structure of a single protein becomes misfolded, it has the ability to cause other prion proteins to change from their normal structure to that which is misfolded eventually affecting the entity of an organism.  One prion of considerable study is the protein PrP which, due to a genetic predisposition, infrequently sporadically becomes misfolded thus causing others to alter their normal structural state changing the protein to that called PrP^sc.  In addition to spontaneous misfolding, PrP^sc prions can be acquired through injestion of meat containing the altered proteins as well as through blood contact via an exposed wound.  PrP^sc is denoted as the specific cause of such diseases as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad-cow disease and human spongiform encephalopathy or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.  A PrP prion consists of many α-heli and upon misfolding to PrP^sc the alteration results in a molecule containing many β-pleated sheets.  The PrP^sc prions are phagocytized by immunal macrophages after recognition of its pathogenicity and travel through the body intended to be deposited in the lymphnodes where they would be denatured.  However, upon contact with nervous tissue along the way they adhere and can then travel up the corresponding nerve into the brain.  This causes the formation of long fibrils and insoluble plaques affecting the functioning of the brain.  Studies on these prions are conducted using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Biochemistry is the field of science which addresses and examines the molecules required for the existence of life as well as their related interactions and functions pertaining to life processes such as metabolism and protein synthesis.  It is an integration of multiple sciences such as biology and chemistry, as indicated by its name, in addition to genetices, molecular biology, and microbiology.  It differs from these sciences as it is a broad study yet is specific to the physiology of life in all forms including multicellular organisms or eukaryotes and single-celled organisms or prokaryotes.  Such an example is genetics is the study of inheritance and expression of transmitted genetic material which is incorporated into biochemistry by the chemical structure as well as function and interaction of DNA and RNA.