In this blogpost, you can download Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry (28th Edition) for free in pdf format from the given below download link.
.JPG "Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry (29th)")
Introduction
Biochemistry can be defined as a life-based chemical science (Gk bios "life"). The cell is the building block of living systems. Biochemistry can therefore also be described as the study of the chemical components of living cells and the reactions and processes they go through. According to this definition, biochemistry includes important aspects of cell biology, molecular biology and molecular genetics.
Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry (28th)
The purpose of biochemistry is to molecularly describe and explain all chemical processes in living seals. To achieve this goal, biochemists try to isolate many molecules found in cells, determine their structures and analyze how they work. Many techniques are used for this
Other goals of biochemistry include helping to understand the origins of life on Earth and combining biochemical knowledge in an effort to maintain health and understanding of diseases and their effective treatment.
Knowledge of biochemistry essential for all life sciences Nucleic acid biochemistry is at the heart of genetics; instead, the use of genetic methods is crucial to elucidating many aspects of biochemistry. Cell biology is a very close ally of biochemistry. Physiology, the study of bodily function, almost completely overlaps with biochemistry. Immunology uses many biochemical techniques and it has been found that many immunological approaches are widely used by biochemists. Pharmacology and pharmacy rely on a thorough knowledge of biochemistry and physiology; in particular, most drugs are metabolized by enzymatically catalyzed reactions. Toxins act as processes in biochemical reactions; it is a subject of toxicology. Biochemical methods are mainly used in the study of basic aspects of pathology (study of diseases), such as inflammation, self-harm and cancer. Many workers in microbiology, zoology and botany use almost exclusively a biochemical approach. These relationships are not surprising, because the life we know depends on biochemical reactions and processes.
In fact, the ancient barriers between the life sciences are breaking down and biochemistry is increasingly becoming their common language. The interrelationship between biochemistry and medicine stimulates mutual progress The two main interests of health professionals - and physicians in particular - are understanding and maintaining health and understanding and effective treatment of diseases. Biochemistry has a huge impact on both of these basic medical problems. The relationship between biochemistry and medicine is really broad, two-way. Biochemical studies shed light on many aspects of health and disease, and the study of various aspects of health and disease opens up new areas of biochemistry.
Further examples of these two-way roads are shown in Figure 1-1. For example, knowledge of the structure and function of egg white is necessary to elucidate the biochemical difference between normal hemoglobin and sickle cell hemoglobin. On the other hand, sickle cell hemoglobin analysis has greatly contributed to our understanding of the structure and function of normal hemoglobin and other egg proteins. Similar examples of the mutual benefits between biochemistry and medicine can be discussed in several other items shown in Figure 1-1. Another example is the pioneering work of Archibald Garrod, an English physician from the early 20th century.
He studied patients with a number of rare diseases (alkaptonuria, albinism, cystinuria and pentosuria; these are described in the following chapters) and found that these conditions are genetically determined. Garrod called these conditions congenital metabolic disorders. His findings provide a tremendous basis for advances in human biochemical genetics. Recent efforts to understand the underlying genetic disease known as familial hypercholesterolemia, which leads to severe atherosclerosis at an early age, have led to significant advances in understanding cellular receptors and mechanisms in cholesterol uptake by cells. Studies of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in cancer cells have focused on the molecular mechanisms involved in the control of normal cell growth.
These and many other examples show how the study of disease can open up aspects of cellular function for basic biochemical research.