Biochemistry : Short Introduction

Biochemistry is the science, which deals with the chemical constituents of living cells, and with the reaction and processes, they undergo. Biochemistry, also sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. The laws of biochemistry govern all living organisms and living processes. By controlling information flow through biochemical signaling and the flow of chemical energy through metabolism, biochemical processes give rise to the complexity of life.

Much of biochemistry deals with the structures, functions and interactions of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules —although increasingly processes rather than individual molecules are the main focus. Among the vast number of different biomolecules, many are complex and large molecules (called biopolymers), which are composed of similar repeating subunits (called monomers). Each class of polymeric biomolecule has a different set of subunit types. For eg, a protein is a polymer whose subunits are selected from a set of 20 or more amino acids. Biochemistry studies the chemical properties of important biological molecules, like proteins, and in particular the chemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

The biochemistry of cell metabolism and the endocrine system has been extensively described. Other areas of biochemistry include the genetic code (DNA, RNA), protein synthesis, cell membrane transport and signal transduction.

Over the last 40 years biochemistry has become so successful at explaining living processes that now almost all areas of the life sciences from botany to medicine are engaged in biochemical research. Today the main focus of pure biochemistry is in understanding how biological molecules give rise to the processes that occur within living cells, which in turn relates greatly to the study and understanding of whole organisms.

Clinical Biochemistry

Clinical biochemistry deals with the biochemistry laboratory applications that are involved in several clinical conditions to find out cause of disease. It helps in diagnosing various clinical conditions, treatment & prevention of the disease and drug monitoring, tissue or organ transplantation, forensic investigation and so on. It helps in determining the severity of disease of many organs such as liver, kidney, stomach, heart, brain as well as endocrine disorders and related status of acid -base balance. So the clinical biochemistry test is useful because:

1.  It reveals the cause of the disease.
2. Screen easy diagnosis.
3. Suggest effective treatment.
4. Assist in monitoring progress of pathological condition.
5. Help in assessing response to therapy  

(References: Wikipedia, Clinical chemistry books)