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Very Short Introductions #674
Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction
Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring
From the simplest bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another, all of which have fundamentally the same chemistry. This chemistry must provide mechanisms that allow cells to interact with the external world, a means to power the cell, machinery to carry out varied processes within the cell, a structure within which everything runs, and also governance through a web of interlocking chemical reactions. Biochemistry is the study of those reactions, the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them, and the massive macromolecules (such as DNA, cytoskeletons, proteins and carbohydrates) that form the chemical machinery and structures on which these biochemical reactions take place.
It didn't take long for an understanding of the chemistry of life to turn into a desire to manipulate it. Drugs and therapies all aim to modify biochemical processes for good or Penicillin, derived from mould, stops bacteria making their cell walls. Aspirin, with its origins in willow bark, inhibits enzymes involved in inflammatory responses. A few nanograms of botulinum toxin (botox), can kill by preventing the release of neurotransmitters from the ends of nerves and so leads to paralysis and death, or give a wrinkle free forehead (if administered in very tiny quantities).This Very Short Introduction discusses the key concepts of biochemistry, as well as the historical figures in the field and the molecules they studied, before considering the current science and innovations in the field, and the interaction between biochemistry, biotechnology, and synthetic biology.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
From the simplest bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another, all of which have fundamentally the same chemistry. This chemistry must provide mechanisms that allow cells to interact with the external world, a means to power the cell, machinery to carry out varied processes within the cell, a structure within which everything runs, and also governance through a web of interlocking chemical reactions. Biochemistry is the study of those reactions, the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them, and the massive macromolecules (such as DNA, cytoskeletons, proteins and carbohydrates) that form the chemical machinery and structures on which these biochemical reactions take place.
It didn't take long for an understanding of the chemistry of life to turn into a desire to manipulate it. Drugs and therapies all aim to modify biochemical processes for good or Penicillin, derived from mould, stops bacteria making their cell walls. Aspirin, with its origins in willow bark, inhibits enzymes involved in inflammatory responses. A few nanograms of botulinum toxin (botox), can kill by preventing the release of neurotransmitters from the ends of nerves and so leads to paralysis and death, or give a wrinkle free forehead (if administered in very tiny quantities).This Very Short Introduction discusses the key concepts of biochemistry, as well as the historical figures in the field and the molecules they studied, before considering the current science and innovations in the field, and the interaction between biochemistry, biotechnology, and synthetic biology.
ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
160 pages, Paperback
Published August 3, 2021
49 people are currently reading
389 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 11, 2024
since my new special obsession is biochemistry for some reason, this short book filled the fire. little bit tricky for my lack of chemistry education but pretty followable, simple explanation of the elements that compose living cellular structures.
i find that almost the one thing more amazing than the biochemical process is the fact that people have understood and can visualize this chemical process going on at a molecular level.
whether going granular at this level can result in a lot of generalized information, i believe for someone different elements can be combined to formulate a linguistic explanation that combines the micro and the macro, which can lead to deep practical importance, ie nutrition, disease, genetics etc.
as it is ill take this little primer and keep plugging away on univ courses on youtube. worth a read if for whatever reason you want to learn about biochemistry.
i find that almost the one thing more amazing than the biochemical process is the fact that people have understood and can visualize this chemical process going on at a molecular level.
whether going granular at this level can result in a lot of generalized information, i believe for someone different elements can be combined to formulate a linguistic explanation that combines the micro and the macro, which can lead to deep practical importance, ie nutrition, disease, genetics etc.
as it is ill take this little primer and keep plugging away on univ courses on youtube. worth a read if for whatever reason you want to learn about biochemistry.
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December 31, 2024Skule 😭
June 5, 2023
The challenge, as is the case with so many books in the VSI series, is how to cover such a broad topic in a slim volume. While the books covering Quantum Physics and Molecular Biology provided enough detail and explanation to genuinely introduce a non-expert to the field, I'm not sure that is the case here. Inevitably much is left out, or skimmed over in superficial detail - almost certainly unavoidable given how much falls under the arena of Biochemistry, however the author too often assumes a higher level of understanding than would be expected from the "average reader" (disclaimer I have a doctrate in the life sciences so most of the time the lack of explanation didn't bother me but judging from previous reviews it has mad this a tough read for others and I can fully appreciate why). Coupled with the problem of finding the correct level of detail and explanation for the non-specialist was the occasional school-boy error on the part of the author and whoever drew his diagrams. In one instance he correctly describes the location of the phosphate group on the nucleotide as being on the 5' carbon then the diagram of the individual nucleotides locates it on the 3'. These problems aside he does provide a reasonable overview of the many types of molecules involved in biochemistry (proteins, and carbohydrates - with the emphasis strongly on the former). The is an interesting section on water that makes it clear how strange it is and how important it is for enabling biochemical reactions and life as a whole. Discussion of carbohydrates especially fats and lipids is somewhat limited - accepted this is a short introduction but there are many other volumes in the series that run to far more pages than this one, which is suprising given the breadth of the field under discussion.
Overall this is an OK introduction but anyone really interested in the field should look to other books, Steven Rose's Chemistry of Life is a perennial favourite but beware his anti molecular biology bias is a bit much, and definitely be prepared to double check some aspects of the text (see the previous comments on his diagrams of nucleotides and also take care with his chemical equations and discussion of metabolism - they don't always balance).
Overall this is an OK introduction but anyone really interested in the field should look to other books, Steven Rose's Chemistry of Life is a perennial favourite but beware his anti molecular biology bias is a bit much, and definitely be prepared to double check some aspects of the text (see the previous comments on his diagrams of nucleotides and also take care with his chemical equations and discussion of metabolism - they don't always balance).
December 20, 2021
For an introduction to the topic, I unfortunately didn't leave this one feeling like I understand the topic any better than going into it. Maybe it's naive to think that this subject matter can be condensed to level of basic understanding. This was an audio book and the narrator Chris Sorensen was over the top and made it hard to focus on the information.
December 15, 2021
A little too much of an assumption of chemical literacy I think.
December 13, 2024
Maybe one of the most important books I read this year, just because I feel like Marxists theorizing about metabolism in 2024 should not be stuck only theorizing with the science of 19th century chemists that Marx was reading. Read Liebig and Johnston to better understand Marx, but also consider reading 21st century biochemists so you might be a better materialist and understand how matter functions, moves, and transforms itself in such beautiful and complicated ways! You don't need to be a Foucauldian like Landecker, but Landecker does know how to do close readings of biochemistry very well, so I think she's definitely worth reading, even if you just think in terms of social metabolism alone. Think about all the living organisms on this planet, the matter that they consist of, and how they ingest parts of their environment and other organisms and turn this material into parts of their own bodies, and how all these living organisms are composed of cells and materials transformed and produced by cells and the chemical reactions they make possible, and then ask yourself what it means to be a materialist in the 21st century. That will even enrich your notions of social metabolism, not to speak of metabolism as more than just a metaphor.
Schwann is only mentioned once in this book, but there is a huge amount on Liebig. But perhaps the most significant thing I encountered in this book, which has become a central part of my own research agenda in bringing the history of energy technologies and infrastructure into dialogue with the history of metabolism as a life science of energy has been my first encounter with ATP synthase in this book!
“Cells need a much more ‘liquid’ source of energy to power the cellular pumps, motors, and enzymes and other components of the never resting cellular machinery. In effect they need a universal and easily exchangeable energy currency. And, across the living world, the main molecule that fulfils this role is adenosine triphosphate (ATP).”
“This proton gradient is in effect a store of potential energy. And in much the same way water can flow downhill through a turbine to convert potential kinetic energy into electricity, protons flow through another protein called ATP synthase (which even turns like a turbine!), resulting in the conversion of ADP and a phosphate ion (Pi) to ATP."
The intro gives a great idea about what this book is about:
“From the simplest bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another. Amazingly, no matter where on the evolutionary tree they perch, those organisms all have fundamentally the same chemistry. This chemistry must provide mechanisms that allow cells to interact with the external world, a means to power the cell, machinery to carry out all the varied processes, a structure within which everything runs, and of course some sort of governance. Cells, in many ways, are like communities, but controlled and governed through a web of interlocking chemical reactions. Biochemistry is the study of those reactions, the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them, and the massive macromolecules (such as DNA, cytoskeletons, proteins, and carbohydrates) that form the chemical machinery and structures on which these biochemical reactions take place.”
That biochemists talk about the chemical and cellular processes of life using the vocabularies of industrial factories fascinates me, and it's hard not to think industrial production through this chemical machinery and cellular infrastructure that biochemists persistently keep talking about.
Schwann is only mentioned once in this book, but there is a huge amount on Liebig. But perhaps the most significant thing I encountered in this book, which has become a central part of my own research agenda in bringing the history of energy technologies and infrastructure into dialogue with the history of metabolism as a life science of energy has been my first encounter with ATP synthase in this book!
“Cells need a much more ‘liquid’ source of energy to power the cellular pumps, motors, and enzymes and other components of the never resting cellular machinery. In effect they need a universal and easily exchangeable energy currency. And, across the living world, the main molecule that fulfils this role is adenosine triphosphate (ATP).”
“This proton gradient is in effect a store of potential energy. And in much the same way water can flow downhill through a turbine to convert potential kinetic energy into electricity, protons flow through another protein called ATP synthase (which even turns like a turbine!), resulting in the conversion of ADP and a phosphate ion (Pi) to ATP."
The intro gives a great idea about what this book is about:
“From the simplest bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another. Amazingly, no matter where on the evolutionary tree they perch, those organisms all have fundamentally the same chemistry. This chemistry must provide mechanisms that allow cells to interact with the external world, a means to power the cell, machinery to carry out all the varied processes, a structure within which everything runs, and of course some sort of governance. Cells, in many ways, are like communities, but controlled and governed through a web of interlocking chemical reactions. Biochemistry is the study of those reactions, the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them, and the massive macromolecules (such as DNA, cytoskeletons, proteins, and carbohydrates) that form the chemical machinery and structures on which these biochemical reactions take place.”
That biochemists talk about the chemical and cellular processes of life using the vocabularies of industrial factories fascinates me, and it's hard not to think industrial production through this chemical machinery and cellular infrastructure that biochemists persistently keep talking about.
August 22, 2021
„From bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another, all of which have fundamentally the same chemistry. Biochemistry is the study of the chemical reactions within these cells; the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them; and the chemical structures such as DNA on which these biochemical reactions take place.“
As an astronomy and physics student I somehow thought that those fields basically describe everything there is, from the very large to the extremely small, which in some way is true… however, this made me underestimate the significance of the fields of biology and chemistry as an independent discipline. A quite interesting book, though I will have forgotten most of the details in a week. The most fascinating part was the chapter on „natures nano-machines“: proteins.
As an astronomy and physics student I somehow thought that those fields basically describe everything there is, from the very large to the extremely small, which in some way is true… however, this made me underestimate the significance of the fields of biology and chemistry as an independent discipline. A quite interesting book, though I will have forgotten most of the details in a week. The most fascinating part was the chapter on „natures nano-machines“: proteins.
April 16, 2023
Life is truly miraculous. This thin volume shows how the underlying mechanisms are majestically intricate and incredibly elegant. The word “remarkable” keeps appearing throughout the book and is very apt indeed. How mindless processes such as evolution can gestate these mechanisms are beyond my imagination. Professor Lorch also discusses recent advances in single-molecule biophysics and synthetic biology. These themselves are immensely fascinating. Overall this is merely an introductory text but it’s still very awe inspiring. Four stars.
August 26, 2025
This is cool: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/ani...
Analogy for enzymes: Imagine a reservoir formed by a dam. Water flows through open gate in the dam and winds its way downhill. If more dam gates are opened, the rate that the water leaves the reservoir increases, but the gates have no effect on the final state. Eventually all the water will find its way to the valley floor, its just that opening further gates allowed this ground state to be reached much more quickly.
Analogy for enzymes: Imagine a reservoir formed by a dam. Water flows through open gate in the dam and winds its way downhill. If more dam gates are opened, the rate that the water leaves the reservoir increases, but the gates have no effect on the final state. Eventually all the water will find its way to the valley floor, its just that opening further gates allowed this ground state to be reached much more quickly.
July 27, 2021
(audiobook)
Another impressive VSI book. New in 2021 this is the usual dense work I have come to enjoy from this series. Bursting at the seams with ATP chemical reactions and the like, but still gripping and interesting to a person like me who only gets maybe 20% of the chemical formula stuff. Bonus: I was able to learn a lot more about what the Folding At Home software is doing under the hood. Good stuff.
Another impressive VSI book. New in 2021 this is the usual dense work I have come to enjoy from this series. Bursting at the seams with ATP chemical reactions and the like, but still gripping and interesting to a person like me who only gets maybe 20% of the chemical formula stuff. Bonus: I was able to learn a lot more about what the Folding At Home software is doing under the hood. Good stuff.
January 16, 2025
I really enjoyed the light and dark reaction section, along with all the information on DNA and proteins. I found the last chapter very interesting as it is more recent, especially with making animal organs more inplantable in humans using synthetic biology. Overall consolidated my knowledge for adv bio
February 19, 2025
Listening to this book reminded me why I avoided studying biochem in college. I felt like Brian Regan learning String Theory.
Seriously though, I did glean a few insights, particularly about amino acids. Worth reading if you don't know much about biochemistry.
Seriously though, I did glean a few insights, particularly about amino acids. Worth reading if you don't know much about biochemistry.
December 25, 2022
I did not understand anything about life before reading this, I now have some vague general ideas and am in shock at why this wasn’t all included in my high school biology class. Everyone should read this.
October 5, 2025
Great introduce the topic, strikes a good balance
Great introduce the topic, strikes a good balance on a complex and fascinating topic. It a topic the words needs to aware of. Good stuff.
Great introduce the topic, strikes a good balance on a complex and fascinating topic. It a topic the words needs to aware of. Good stuff.
January 7, 2024
this book did exactly what it promised, love it when an author follows through with promises. it's thoroughly researched(or at least the knowledge is palpable) and it's quite approachable as well. i loved it!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews