I often bang on about amino acids as the building blocks of proteins. Plants can make them from carbohydrate they make themselves through photosynthesis and nitrates absorbed from the soil; you get them from your diet. Your genes are codes for individual proteins which are constructed from chains of amino acids. One of the first steps that must have been necessary for life to begin on Earth was the appearance of amino acids in the early, chemical rich oceans 4 billion years ago (give or take an eon). Some people have wondered how likely it would be for such molecules to form given the pretty hostile environment. It now seems that amino acids such as glycine form in deep space, which increases the probability that there may be life of some description elsewhere in the Universe.
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Questions…
- Apart from carbohydrate and protein, what else should a balanced diet contain?
- What are the raw materials needed for photosynthesis?
- How does nitrate get into the soil?
- Name another amino acid apart from glycine.
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