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Nucleic Acids Nucleic acids are high molecular weight biopolymers with mononucleotides as their repeating units.  They are chains of five membered ring sugars linked by phosphate group. The anomeric carbon of each sugar is bonded to a nitrogen of a heterocyclic compound in a β-glycosides linkage. Nucleosides The nucleosides are compounds in which nitrogenous bases (purine and pyrimidines) are conjugated to the pentose sugars (ribose and deoxyribose) by β–glycosidic linkage. Nucleotides Nucleotides are the phosphoric acid esters of nucleosides.  These exist either in the free form or as subunits in nucleic acids. A nucleotide is a nucleoside with either the 5’ or 3’-OH group bonded in ester linkage to a phosphoric acids. The nucleotides of RNA (where the sugar is D-ribose) are more precisely called ribonucleotides, while the nucleotides of DNA  (2’-deoxy-D-ribose) are called deoxyribonucleotides.

Enzymes Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up the biological reactions in the cells. They are protein in nature and help producing products rapidly by decreasing energy of activation without being changed. Substrate The substances to which enzymes are attached, making enzymes substrate complex ES and converting it to products quickly according to the need of cells. Active Sites Active sites are unique places on enzymes where the substrate is attached. As enzymes are proteins, so active sites are modified sequences of amino acids which serve best for linking with substrate. Apo enzymes The protein part of enzymes is called Apo enzymes. Prosthetic Group This part is covalently bonded with enzymes. It cannot be unattached from enzymes and helps increasing the efficacy of enzymes. Prosthetic Groups are of Two Types Cofactor/Activators The part of enzymes which are inorganic in nature and are required by the enzymes for accomplishing their activity. e.g Z...

Lipids are heterogenous group of compounds (an important biomolecules) that can be extracted from cells (tissues) by non polar solvent i.e  they are sparingly soluble in water and readily soluble  in organic solvents like benzene, ether, chloroform. They include fats, oil, fatty acids, phospholipids, glycolipids, steroids and terpenes. Many classifications available but mostly Bloor’s classification is mentioned.  Bloor in 1943 classified Lipids on the basis of chemical structure. Simple Lipids (Homolipids) Fats and Oils, Waxes  Chemically Fats are esters of glycerols (alcohols) and fatty acids. They are therefore called as triglycerides or triacylglycerol (commonly called). Fats are solids and oils are liquids in ordinary room temperature. Waxes are  esters of fatty acids with high molecular weight monohydroxy alcohols. Compound Lipids (Heterolipids) They are also esters of alcohols and fatty acids but possess an additional group. They are also ca...

The Ketogenic diet is being used all over the world to treat difficult to control in-tractable epileptic seizures in children. A seizure is an uncontrolled surge of electrical activity in the brain that affects how a person behaves and acts for a short time. A person is said to have epilepsy when at least two unprovoked (reflex) seizures occur more than 24 hours apart. The Ketogenic diet is a special high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that helps to control seizures in some people with epilepsy. This diet is recommended when antiepileptic drugs have been tried and there has been little improvement. The diet dates as far back as 400 BC in the Hippocratic period. The film, “First Do No Harm” that featured the acclaimed actress, Meryl Streep, resurrected interest in this diet. This film is based on a real life story of a child Charlie who was having 100 seizures a day. Doctors had tried all modalities available to treat him. Left hopeless with his son’s grave condition, his father started ...