Basics of biochemistry

ABSTRACT

The word biochemistry is usually associated with the biochemical tests that we perform almost on a daily basis. However, biochemistry has a much broader meaning – it is about the chemistry of life. Plants, animals and fungi all use the same basic chemical compounds to live their lives. Biochemistry is concerned with the atoms and molecules that form the living world, and with the processes that are necessary for these molecules to be built up and subsequently broken down to enable life to take place. This article seeks to introduce the basic concepts surrounding these molecules and processes, hopefully, in turn, to further a deeper understanding of topics such as anatomy, physiology and nutrition, which form part of the foundations of our profession.

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James Colver

James Colver Cert Ed RVN

James started nursing in 1999 at an ophthalmic referral practice in Surrey, and qualified in 2002 at MYF Training in Aldershot. Upon qualifying, James took a night nursing job at a busy multi-discipline referral practice, then spent the next ten years in various locum and permanent positions in London, Surrey and Sussex. After teaching on, and then managing, the veterinary nursing course at Chichester College, James sought a quieter life (which he rarely gets) in a friendly first opinion practice in West Sussex.