Find a protein using PDB explorer-describe your protein, including what disease state or other real-world application it has.

The protein that I chose to look at was Lactose-Liganded Congerin I. This particular protein is part of the galectin family and is found in the skin mucous of the conger eel. Proteins from the galectin family perform several different biological activities. Congerin I is known for its activity against marine bacteria and starfish embryos. As such it is also plays an important role in conger eels’ biological defense mechanism against parasites. The structure of Congerin I is shown to the left. As is evident the protein is a homodimer and as such it possesses secondary structure. Lastly this secondary structure has a bounty of both alpha helices and beta pleated sheets.

What is biochemistry, and how does it differ from the fields of genetics, biology, chemistry, and molecular biology?

Biochemistry can be defined as the application of chemistry to the study of biological processes at both the molecular and cellular levels. As both a life and chemical science, biochemistry explores the chemistry of living organisms, paying particular attention to the molecular basis for the changes that occur in living cells. Using methods from disciplines including physics, chemistry, molecular biology, immunology and genetics, biochemistry looks at the structure and behavior of the complex molecules found in biological material and the ways these molecules interact to form cells, tissues and entire organisms. For example biochemists seek to understand brain functioning, cellular communication within and between cells and organs, and lastly the chemical basis of inheritance and disease. Biochemists explore how molecules such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids function in the aforementioned processes with emphasis placed on regulating chemical reactions within cells. Accordingly, biochemistry differs from fields like chemistry, biology, genetics and molecular biology in that it truly encompasses various aspects of each of these disciplines. That is chemistry, for example, focuses solely on the properties, composition, and activities of various elementary forms of matter; while biology is the study of life and living organisms. Further subdivisions in the field of biology include genetics which is the study of heredity and variation in living organisms, and molecular biology which looks at life at the molecular level with a focus on interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and protein synthesis, as well as learning how these interactions are regulated. As is evident biochemistry differs from discipline such as chemistry or genetics in that it can’t stand alone. Biochemistry relies on these other science disciplines to aid in its own research and studies.