Fascinating Biochemistry Facts

 

 

Fascinating Biochemistry Facts

1. Your body makes water every day

Through cellular respiration, mitochondria produce metabolic water.
On average, an adult makes 250–350 mL of water daily just by breaking down food!

2. One human cell contains ~6 feet (2 meters) of DNA

If you stretched all the DNA in your body end to end, it could reach the Sun and back ~600 times.

3. ATP is made and used at an unbelievable speed

Your body recycles ~50–75 kg of ATP per day even though you only have about 50 grams in your cells at any time.

4. Enzymes can speed reactions by a factor of a trillion

Without the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, CO₂ hydration in blood would be too slow to support life.
With the enzyme, it becomes 1 million times faster.

5. Hemoglobin changes shape when it binds oxygen

It flips between T-state and R-state, a beautiful example of allosteric regulation.

6. Your nose detects smells using GPCRs (G-protein coupled receptors)

Humans have nearly 400 functional olfactory receptors, and each receptor can detect multiple molecules → giving trillions of scent combinations.

7. Cholesterol is NOT always bad

It’s essential to make:

  • steroid hormones
  • vitamin D
  • bile acids
  • cell membrane fluidity
    Your brain alone holds 20–25% of your body’s cholesterol.

8. The liver performs over 500 biochemical functions

Including detoxification, gluconeogenesis, ketogenesis, bile formation, and protein synthesis (albumin, clotting factors, etc.).

9. Enzymes have perfect efficiency

Some enzymes, like catalase, approach the limit of diffusion—meaning as soon as the substrate touches them, the reaction happens instantly.

10. Humans glow in the dark—very faintly

Due to biophoton emission from oxidative metabolism.
We can't see it because it's 1,000 times weaker than human visual detection.

 

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