Biochemical research explores the chemistry of living things and their environment. Biochemists study structures, processes, causes and effects, and design products for medical science. They focus on proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and nucleic acids. Biochemists also work in the food industry, studying nutrition and digestion. Other areas of research include metabolism, hormones, genetics, diseases, pharmacology, stem cell development, toxicology, and immunochemistry. Biochemical research began in the 18th century and continues today using specialized tools such as spectrophotometry, DNA gel electrophoresis, chromatography, and mass spectrometry.
Biochemical research stands at the intersection of chemistry and biology, seeking answers to questions about the chemistry of living things and how chemicals behave in the environment of a living person or animal or plant or other living thing. It is also called both research biochemistry and biological chemistry. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), most biochemists are involved in academic or industrial biochemical research.
Possible topics of study range from complex chemical changes that occur at the cellular level to processes within a living individual, such as brain growth and function, to processes that occur across generations, such as heredity. Within any of these areas, from the single cell to the family group, or even at broader levels, biochemists can study structures and their functions and processes, biochemical causes and effects, relationships between and between structures and organs. They may also try to synthesize or design products that would play a role in medical science, for example.
By focusing on organic compounds, biochemical research can focus on one of the four major types of organic matter found in a cell. One type is proteins, macromolecules made up of amino acids that form an essential component of the diet of people and animals. A second are carbohydrates, compounds composed entirely of oxygen, carbon and hydrogen, which combine in foods such as sugars, cellulose and starches. A third is called fats or lipids which are an important mechanism for providing energy stores to organisms. Fourth are nucleic acids, which are present in all cells and are essential for protein synthesis and gene transmission.
Nutrition is another important area of biochemical research and many biochemists are employed in the food industry. Biochemists study the biochemistry of food in and of itself as well as how it is used in the body, which involves the study of digestion. New food processes can be tested to see what impact they have on the nutritional quality of the food product, and new ideas can be devised on how to meet particular nutritional needs. Other areas of biochemical research include metabolism, hormones, the circulatory system, genetics, specific diseases, pharmacology, stem cell development, toxicology, and immunochemistry.
Biochemical research was started at the end of the 18th century. The first time an organic compound was synthesized in the laboratory was when Friedrich Wöhler synthesized urea in 1828. Today, biochemical research continues to examine some of the same areas that interested scientists several centuries ago, albeit using different equipment. Biochemistry researchers have some very specialized tools at their disposal. These include spectrophotometry, DNA gel electrophoresis, chromatography and mass spectrometry.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
