Cell Metabolism Overview

Study Notes

Metabolism: The sum of all chemical reactions in an organism; crucial for energy production and cellular work.
Bioluminescence: An example of energy conversion where organisms convert chemical energy into light.
Living cells are miniature chemical factories with thousands of reactions.
Metabolism is an emergent property arising from molecular interactions within a cell.
Metabolic pathways: Series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions converting a starting molecule into a product.

Catabolic pathways: Release energy by breaking down complex molecules into simpler ones (e.g., cellular respiration breaking down glucose to produce ATP).
Anabolic pathways: Consume energy to build complex molecules from simpler ones (e.g., protein synthesis from amino acids).
Bioenergetics: The study of how organisms manage their energy resources.
Organisms utilize both organic (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, nucleic acids) and inorganic molecules.

Redox reactions (oxidation-reduction): Transfer of electrons between molecules, releasing energy stored in organic molecules, ultimately used for ATP synthesis.
Oxidation: Loss of electrons.
Reduction: Gain of electrons.
Reducing agent: Electron donor.
Oxidizing agent: Electron acceptor.
Some redox reactions involve changes in electron sharing in covalent bonds.

Energy: Capacity to cause change; exists in various forms.
Kinetic energy: Energy of motion.
Heat (thermal energy): Kinetic energy from random atomic/molecular movement.
Potential energy: Energy stored due to location or structure.
Chemical energy: Potential energy released during chemical reactions.
Energy can be converted between different forms (e.g., light energy in bioluminescence).