Biochemistry For Dummies, 2nd Edition -- About the Authors -- Dedication -- Authors' Acknowledgments -- Contents at a Glance -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- About This Book -- Conventions Used in This Book -- What You're Not to Read -- Foolish Assumptions -- How This Book Is Organized -- Icons Used in This Book -- Where to Go from Here -- Part I: Setting the Stage: Basic Biochemistry Concepts -- Chapter 1: Biochemistry: What You Need to Know and Why -- Why Biochemistry? -- What Is Biochemistry and Where Does It Take Place? -- Types of Living Cells -- Animal Cells and How They Work -- A Brief Look at Plant Cells -- Chapter 2: Seems So Basic: Water Chemistry and pH -- The Fundamentals of H₂O -- Hydrogen Ion Concentration: Acids and Bases -- Buffers and pH Control -- Chatper 3: Fun with Carbon: Organic Chemistry -- The Role of Carbon in the Study of Life -- It's All in the Numbers: Carbon Bonds -- When Forces Attract: Bond Strengths -- Getting a Reaction out of a Molecule: Functional Groups -- Same Content, Different Structure: Isomerism -- Part II: The Meat of Biochemistry: Proteins -- Chapter 4: Amino Acids: The Building Blocks of Protein -- General Properties of Amino Acids -- The Magic 20 Amino Acids -- Lest We Forget: Rarer Amino Acids -- Rudiments of Amino Acid Interactions -- Combining Amino Acids: How It Works -- Chapter 5: Protein Structure and Function -- Proteins: Not Just for Dinner -- Primary Structure: The Structure Level All Proteins Have -- Secondary Structure: A Structure Level Most Proteins Have -- Tertiary Structure: A Structure Level Many Proteins Have -- Quaternary Structure: A Structure Level Some Proteins Have -- Dissecting a Protein for Study -- Chapter 6: Enzyme Kinetics: Getting There Faster -- Enzyme Classification: The Best Catalyst for the Job -- Enzymes as Catalysts: When Fast Is Not Fast Enough.

All about Kinetics -- Measuring Enzyme Behavior: The Michaelis-Menten Equation -- Enzyme Inhibition: Slowing It Down -- Enzyme Regulation -- Part III: Carbohydrates, Lipids, Nucleic Acids, and More -- Chapter 7: What We Crave: Carbohydrates -- Properties of Carbohydrates -- A Sweet Topic: Monosaccharides -- Sugars Joining Hands: Oligosaccharides -- The Aldose Family of Sugars -- Chapter 8: Lipids and Membranes -- Lovely Lipids: An Overview -- A Fatty Subject: Triglycerides -- No Simpletons Here: Complex Lipids -- Membranes: The Bipolar and the Bilayer -- Prostaglandins, Thromboxanes, and Leukotrienes: Mopping Up -- Chapter 9: Nucleic Acids and the Code of Life -- Nucleotides: The Guts of DNA and RNA -- Tracing the Process: From Nucleoside to Nucleotide to Nucleic Acid -- A Primer on Nucleic Acids -- Chapter 10: Vitamins: Both Simple and Complex -- More than One-a-Day: Basics of Vitamins -- To B or Not to B: B Complex Vitamins -- Vitamin A -- Vitamin C -- Vitamin D -- Vitamin E -- Vitamin K -- Chapter 11: Hormones: The Body's Messengers -- Structures of Some Key Hormones -- Now and Later: Prohormones -- Fight or Flight: Hormone Function -- Part IV: Bioenergetics and Pathways -- Chapter 12: Life and Energy -- ATP: The Energy Pony Express -- It's Relative: Molecules Related to ATP -- Where It All Comes From -- Chapter 13: ATP: The Body's Monetary System -- Metabolism I: Glycolysis -- Metabolism II: Citric Acid (Krebs) Cycle -- Electron Transport and Oxidative Phosphorylation -- Investing in the Future: Biosynthesis -- Chapter 14: Smelly Biochemistry: Nitrogen in Biological Systems -- Ring in the Nitrogen: Purine -- Pyrimidine Synthesis -- Back to the Beginning: Catabolism -- Process of Elimination: The Urea Cycle -- Amino Acids Once Again -- Metabolic Disorders -- Part V: Genetics: Why We Are What We Are -- Chapter 15: Photocopying DNA.

Let's Do It Again: Replication -- Mendel Rolling Over: Recombinant DNA -- Patterns: Determining DNA Sequences -- Genetic Diseases and Other DNA Testing Applications -- Chapter 16: Transcribe This! RNA Transcription -- Types of RNA -- RNA Polymerase Requirements -- Making RNA: The Basics -- Not a Secret Any Longer: The Genetic Code -- Models of Gene Regulation -- Chapter 17: Translation: Protein Synthesis -- Hopefully Not Lost in Translation -- The Translation Team -- Hooking Up: Protein Synthesis -- Variation in Eukaryotic Cells -- Part VI: The Part of Tens -- Chapter 18: Ten Great Applications of Biochemistry -- Ames Test -- Pregnancy Testing -- HIV Testing -- Breast Cancer Testing -- Prenatal Genetic Testing -- PKU Screening -- Genetically Modified Foods -- Genetic Engineering -- Cloning -- Gene-Replacement Therapy -- Chapter 19: Ten Biochemistry Careers -- Research Assistant -- Plant Breeder -- Quality Control Analyst -- Clinical Research Associate -- Technical Writer -- Biochemical Development Engineer -- Market Research Analyst -- Patent Attorney -- Pharmaceutical Sales -- Biostatistician -- Index.