Macromolecules Research Paper

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Cells are the basic unit of all living things. However, taking a closer look, would take us to the presence of macromolecules. If macromolecules were to be further divided, it would be broken up into four types; consisting of carbohydrates,nucleic acids,proteins, and lipids. These are all organic molecules meaning that they contain the element carbon. And these organic molecules can still then be subdivided into its basic building blocks( CITE). For example, carbohydrates are polymers of sugars. Nucleic acids are composed of nucleotides, proteins are made of amino acids, and lipids are formed from fatty acids( CITE). Although the abundance of each macromolecule varies based on the setting, each macromolecule is equally significant in the role it plays in our body as a whole.For instance, monosaccharides (simple sugars) are the major nutrients of cells(CITE). Glucose, a carbohydrate, or more specifically a monosaccharide is a major component in creating energy, and used as a fuel to create ATP. Monosaccharides can be joined together by dehydration reactions in which a water molecule (H2O) is…show more content…
Therefore different tests can be implemented to help differentiate them from one another. For instance, simple sugars like glucose can be identified by using Benedict’s reagent. The purpose of using Benedict’s reagent is to pinpoint reducing sugars since they can react with copper ions in the indicator solution(CITE). If a solution is monosaccharide or disaccharide positive then when mixed with the reagent the result should be the formation of a precipitate. Lugol’s Iodine can be used to confirm the presence of starch. Depending on how much starch is present, a change in color from yellowish brown to dark blue to blackish should take

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