biomolecule

American  

[bahy-oh-mahl-uh-kyool] / ˌbaɪ oʊˈmɑl əˌkyul /

noun

plural

biomolecules

1. an organic molecule occurring in living organisms, such as an amino acid or protein.

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Other Word Forms

• biomolecular adjective

Explanation

A biomolecule is a chemical building block produced by living organisms. The carbohydrates and proteins found in food are common examples of biomolecules, which are essential for biological processes like growth and energy production. Bios is the Greek word for "life," so the clue is in the name: These molecules are the essential compounds created by living beings to sustain life. While simple elements like carbon are the raw materials, the term biomolecules refers to the complex structures that living things build from them. Hormones, which regulate bodily functions, and DNA, which carries our genetic code, are two types of biomolecules. Biomolecules are also found in food: Vitamins and proteins like gelatin are two examples.

Example Sentences

To encourage such widespread adoption, DeepMind researchers today also released AlphaFold Server, a free online platform that enables users to create AF3 models of proteins interacting with almost any other biomolecule.

From Science Magazine • May 8, 2024

They do this by sensing what's happening outside and relaying a command to the precise biomolecule in the precise domain that can carry out the necessary response.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2024

This enables researchers to test the resolution of the latest super-resolution microscopy methods with unprecedented precision on a precisely defined cellular biomolecule.

From Science Daily • Dec. 1, 2023

If it holds up, the model, which is now guiding laboratory experiments for confirmation, could re-establish the reputation of proteins as the original self-replicating biomolecule.

From Scientific American • Nov. 12, 2017

Only by knowing the atom-by-atom arrangement of a biomolecule can researchers grasp how it works — how, for instance, the ribosome reads strands of messenger RNA to manufacture proteins, or how molecular pores flip open and shut.

From Nature • Sep. 8, 2015