Page 85 - Miracles Within the Molecule

ADNAN OKTAR

All of the 20 amino
acids that make up
pro teins pos sess a
com mon struc ture.
The only thing that
dis tin guish es any
one from the oth ers
is its side chains.
Due to the dif fer ent
atoms and bonds
acquired by side
chains, they pos sess
dif fer ent struc tures,
which per mit the 20
dif fer ent amino acids
to give rise to 10 130
dif fer ent pro teins
with dif fer ing
sequen ces. This, of
course, is a match -
less cre a tion.

sess dif fer ent struc tures and elec tri cal char ges and dif fer ent lev els of sol -
u bil i ty in water.
In order to give rise to pro teins, amino acids attach to one anoth er
by means of what's known as pep tide bonds. The arrange ment of amino
acids, attached by pep tide bonds, deter mines the pro teins' three-dimen -
sion al struc ture. Proteins assume dif fer ent func tions accord ing to their
struc tures and use the cell's chem i cal reac tions in var i ous sta ges. If a cell
needs ener gy, pro teins per form dif fer ent chem i cal reac tions. If the cell
requires amino acids, the pro teins break down into amino acids. In
addi tion, pro teins also act like build ing bricks in the cell mem brane. In
short, pro teins are used almost every where through out the cell. 30
A pro tein's three-dimen sion al struc ture deter mines its func tions. A
pro tein mol e cule that's tensed or curved, fold ed at ran dom, is bio log i -
cal ly unus a ble. In order for a pro tein to func tion prop er ly, its atoms
must be set out in an appro pri ate man ner. Any pro tein that pos sess es

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