What is biosynthesis in biology?

Biosynthesis (biological synthesis) is the formation of complex substances from simpler ones in a living organism.


The last biosynthesis differs from the chemical synthesis that takes place outside the cells - in laboratories, at chemical plants, sometimes - in water bodies, soil and rocks.

In addition, special substances are always involved in biosynthesis - enzymes. They enable and/or accelerate chemical reactions. About 5000 enzymes are known, and they do not exist in nature outside living organisms.

Nature has had billions of years at its disposal and has experienced billions of methods of synthesis. During this time, she selected the most suitable substances, created miniature structures for their processing. A living cell has turned into a chemical plant, where the most complex transformations can take place. The "factory" works automatically, quickly, with minimal losses and maximum output. The supply of “raw materials” to the cell, uninterrupted energy supply, and the information recorded in the genes about what and how to do is always ready.

Take, for example, a green leaf on a tree. In the light from carbon dioxide and water, it continuously forms glucose. The plant feeds on it, receives energy. Powerful science and powerful technology are in the hands of man. Carbon dioxide and water - as much as you like. With, too, like, there are no problems. But people, using only this, are not able to synthesize a single grain of glucose. We get it in a completely different way, moreover, from starch, which was synthesized by the same plants.

Why can't a person copy biosynthetic reactions?

First, because we don't have the "equipment" that the cell has.

Secondly, most enzymes are proteins, in order to get them, a person must figure out the structure of each, then find a way to get them. All this is possible, but not easy. As a result, the product of chemical synthesis (for example, an artificial hormone) turns out to be quite expensive.


The matter can be simplified if at least part of the work is shifted to living cells. For example, ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is produced in factories as a result of six chemical reactions. One of them is provided by ... active bacteria. Such schemes are widely used in biotechnology.

We compared the cage to a factory. But in industry, the relocation of enterprises is a common practice. Genetic engineering does something similar. Thus, the human insulin protein gene was able to "get a job" in the cell of the bacterium Escherichia coli. As a result, insulin is synthesized in a new place - unknown and completely unnecessary to E. coli, but urgently needed by patients with diabetes.

How does a person use the products of biosynthesis?

He, without hesitation, uses them every second of his life. When you read these lines, visual pigments are biosynthesised in your eyes, the storage substance glycogen is synthesized from glucose in the liver, hemoglobin molecules are built by the bone marrow, etc.

In addition, a person, with might and main, consumes the finished products of "foreign" biosynthesis. What is our food - bread, meat, butter, cereals, milk, etc.? All these are mixtures of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins. That is, the products of biosynthesis that took place in the cells of plants and animals.

Biosynthesis also supplies us with industrial raw materials. We extract antibiotics and vitamins from mold fungi and bacteria. We are dressed and shod in various types of squirrels - wool, fur and skin of mammals, as well as in cotton fiber. We select natural silk from silkworm butterflies. Cellulose, which trees have been synthesizing for decades, we turn into paper, glucose, viscose, plastic, building materials, and furniture.


One can only rejoice that nature has created biosynthesis - without it, we would be deprived of all this. True, without biosynthesis, we ourselves would not exist.