Side Chains

Preview:

Subject: Biochemistry · The 20 Amino Acids 

Short Description: Twenty amino acids. Five groups. One soulful neo-soul anthem that teaches the classification system the MCAT actually tests — not a tedious alphabetical list. Nonpolar, aromatic, polar, charged: learn which is which through a song you'll want on your study playlist. Includes the famous "Dragons Eat Knights" charged-residue mnemonic.

What's Included:

• 1 high-quality WAV audio file
• 1 cinematic lyric video (HD)
• Sound: Soulful Neo-Soul
• All 20 amino acids organized into the 5 tested groups
• High-yield details: UV absorption, disulfide bridges, charge at physiological pH

Lyrics:

Twenty in the body.
Twenty in the chain.
Twenty in the protein.
Five groups, one name.

We are the nonpolar — seven in our line.
Glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine,
methionine and proline shine.
We hide inside the protein,
away from water's reach.
Hydrophobic, tucked together
the inner shell we teach.

Every amino acid wears the same frame
alpha carbon, amino group, carboxyl, R, the name.
But the side chain tells the story
the side chain plays the game.

Twenty in the body, five groups in the chain.
Nonpolar, aromatic, polar, charged again.
Positive, negative, opposites attract.
Twenty in the protein. That's a fact.
Twenty in the body. Twenty in the soul.
Five groups, one molecule. That's the whole.

We are the aromatic — three rings of grace.
Phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan,  F, Y, W on the page.
We absorb the ultraviolet,
we read at two-eighty light.
Big and bulky, ring-shaped beauties
we hold the structure tight.

We are the polar uncharged, five in our hand.
Serine, threonine, cysteine, asparagine, glutamine stand.
We hydrogen-bond, we dissolve in water,
we sit on the surface clean.
Cysteine's special, sulfur in her side
she builds the disulfide between.

Every amino acid wears the same frame
alpha carbon, amino group, carboxyl, R, the name.
But the side chain tells the story
the side chain plays the game.

Twenty in the body, five groups in the chain.
Nonpolar, aromatic, polar, charged again.
Positive, negative, opposites attract.
Twenty in the protein. That's a fact.
Twenty in the body. Twenty in the soul.
Five groups, one molecule. That's the whole.

We are the positive — basic, charged, alive.
Lysine, arginine, histidine — the three who thrive.
At body pH, we carry a plus.
We bind the DNA. Trust the trust.

And we are the negative — only two of us, no more.
Aspartate, glutamate, acidic to the core.
We carry the minus charge,
we balance the positive's flame.
Dragons eat knights riding horses
D, E, K, R, H — the charged ones we name.

Five groups, twenty members,
one alpha carbon home.
The polypeptide chain we build,
the protein's only home.
Seven hide, three glow, five surface,
three plus, two minus low.
Twenty in the body
that's how the proteins grow.

Twenty in the body, five groups in the chain.
Nonpolar, aromatic, polar, charged again.
Positive, negative, opposites attract.
Twenty in the protein. That's a fact.
Twenty in the body. Twenty in the soul.
Five groups, one molecule. That's the whole.

Twenty in the body.
Twenty in the chain.
Twenty in the protein.
Five groups, one name.

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