
Amino acid | Definition, Structure, & Facts | Britannica
Dec 17, 2025 · Amino acid, any of a group of organic molecules that consist of a basic amino group, an acidic carboxyl group, and a unique organic side chain. The term amino acid is short …
Protein - Amino Acids, Structure, Function | Britannica
Dec 31, 2025 · Proteins are one of three primary macronutrients that provide energy to the human body, along with fats and carbohydrates. They consist of amino acids that are essential to …
Amino acid - Building Blocks, Structure, Functions | Britannica
Dec 17, 2025 · After they are incorporated into a peptide, the individual amino acids are referred to as amino acid residues. Small polymers of amino acids (fewer than 50) are called …
Structure and properties of amino acids | Britannica
amino acid, Any of a class of organic compounds in which a carbon atom has bonds to an amino group (―NH2), a carboxyl group (―COOH), a hydrogen atom (―H), and an organic side …
Amino acid - Reactions, Structure, Synthesis | Britannica
Dec 17, 2025 · Amino acid - Reactions, Structure, Synthesis: Amino acids via their various chemical functionalities (carboxyls, amino, and R groups) can undergo numerous chemical …
Codon | Definition, Function, & Examples | Britannica
Each codon stands for a specific amino acid, so if the message in mRNA is 900 nucleotides long, which corresponds to 300 codons, it will be translated into a chain of 300 amino acids.
What is an amino acid? | Britannica
An amino acid is an organic molecule that is made up of a basic amino group (−NH 2), an acidic carboxyl group (−COOH), and an organic R group (or side chain) that is unique to each amino …
Transfer RNA (tRNA) | Britannica
The order of tRNA molecules ultimately determines the amino acid sequence of a protein because molecules of tRNA catalyze the formation of peptide bonds between the amino acids, linking …
Human digestive system - Proteins, Enzymes, Absorption | Britannica
6 days ago · The digestion of protein entails breaking the complex molecule first into peptides, each having a number of amino acids, and second into individual amino acids.
Amino Acid, Protein Structure & Peptide Bonds - Britannica
Proline, an amino acid obtained by hydrolysis of proteins. Its molecule contains a secondary amino group (>NH) rather than the primary amino group (>NH2) characteristic of most amino …