What is Biochemistry?
Biochemistry is the study of the structure, composition, and chemical reactions of substances in living systems. Biochemistry emerged as a separate discipline when scientists combined biology with organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry and began to study how living things obtain energy from food, the chemical basis of heredity, what fundamental changes occur in disease, and related issues. Biochemistry includes the sciences of molecular biology, immunochemistry, and neurochemistry, as well as bioinorganic, bioorganic, and biophysical chemistry. The underlying principle of biochemistry is understanding the structure of living systems and, in turn, their functions and ways to control them. Biochemists interact with scientists from a wide variety of other disciplines, usually on problems that are a very small piece of a very large and complex system. Although much has been learned about how biological systems work, they are extremely complex and there is still much more to learn. Biological chemists in industry are interested in specific applications that will lead to marketable products, while those in academia or government labs conduct more basic and less applied research.
Where is Biochemistry used?
Biochemistry has obvious applications in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. In food science, biochemists determine the chemical composition of foods, research ways to develop abundant and inexpensive sources of nutritious foods, develop methods to extract nutrients from waste products, and/or invent ways to prolong the shelf life of food products. In agriculture, biochemists study the interaction of herbicides/insecticides with plants and pests. They examine the structure–activity relationships of compounds, determine their ability to inhibit growth, and evaluate the toxicological effects on surrounding life. Biochemistry spills over into pharmacology, physiology, microbiology, toxicology, and clinical chemistry. In these areas, a biochemist may investigate the mechanism of a drug action; engage in viral research; conduct research pertaining to organ function; or use chemical concepts, procedures, and techniques to study the diagnosis and therapy of disease and the assessment of health.
Chemistry 