proteins

Proteins are essential to the construction and functioning of all organisms. They are responsible for thousands of functions, such as the control of cell division or the synthesis of DNA, for example. Just like a pearl necklace, a protein consists of a succession of amino acids linked to each other by chemical forces. There are 20 different amino acids. The order of amino acids in the chain is determined by the genetic information. Proteins have variable lengths and fold upon themselves to adopt a specific structure – their 3D structure – which is very important for their function.