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Up to date, there are 3 fields of Biochemistry: structural biology, enzymology, and metabolism. These 3 fields are also known as the three disciplines of biochemistry that led to the success of biochemistry in explaining life processes in the 20th century.
Structural biology:
Structural biology is the study of how molecules are built up and it uses a variety of imaging techniques to help the scientist observe how the molecules are built up. Scientists observe molecules in 3 dimensions to know more about the molecules- how they work, how they are assembled together, and how they interact with other molecules. The scientists will then piece all the information that they know and pass it to the researchers that will learn about how the thousands of molecules in our body can keep us healthy. Some structural studies also led to new treatments for many diseases as the studies will show the cause of the disease- misshapen molecules. Some related career choices are research scientists, Scientific Project Leader at the Swiss Science Foundation, a science writer and many more.
Enzymology:
Enzymology is the study aiming to understand how enzymes work through the relationship between their structure and function and their folds in the native state. Enzymology is also a multi-disciplinary research field that includes areas of biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, molecular genetics, and biophysics. The fundamental of enzymology consists of the development of reliable activity assays, expression and purification, steady-state kinetic characterization, and an initial basic structural characterization, which may include determination of subunit structure, molecular mass, prosthetic group content, cofactor requirement, and post-translational modifications. If one wants to have a more detailed structural and mechanistic characterisation often requires comparing the wild -type with the mutant enzymes with clearly labelled enzymes.
Metabolism:
Metabolism is the sum of the biochemical reactions that is involved in maintaining the living condition of cells in an organism. All living organisms require energy for different essential processes and for producing new organic substances. There are 2 types of metabolic processes: Catabolism and Anabolism. Catabolism involves mainly the breaking down of larger organic molecules into smaller molecules and this releases energy. On the other hand Anabolism is involved in building up or synthesising compounds from simpler substances, this process stores energy. The energy will be used on chemical reactions that occur in the organism as it requires energy.These two metabolic processes help in the growth, reproduction and maintaining structures of living organisms. The organisms also respond to the surrounding environment due to metabolic activities.
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