What are amino acids and what are they used for?

Answer 1

Amino acids are the monomers (building block molecules) of PROTEINS. Amino acids are molecules which are all made up of a central carbon atom to which is bonded an amine group, -NH2, and a carboxylic acid group, -COOH. It is these two groups which give amino acids their name. The third component bonded to the carbon atom is always a hydrogen atom and the fourth group is variable one in each amino acid and is called an R group.
Amino acids are mainly used for protein synthesis, which is the manufacture of proteins, including enzymes, in every living cell. There are 20 essential amino acids which are used to make proteins in our bodies.

Answer 2

In chemistry, an amino acid is any molecule that contains both amine and carboxyl functional groups. In biochemistry, this term refers to alpha amino acids. These are molecules where the amino and carboxylate groups are attached to the same carbon, which is called the α–carbon. The various alpha amino acids differ in which side chain is attached to their alpha carbon. This can vary in size from just a hydrogen atom in glycine, through a methyl group in alanine, to a large heterocyclic group in tryptophan.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. They form short polymer chains called peptides or longer chains either called polypeptides or proteins. The process of such formation from an mRNA template is known as translation which is part of protein synthesis.Twenty amino acids are needed to build the various proteins used in the growth, repair, and maintenance of body tissues. Eleven of these amino acids can be made by the body itself, while the other nine (called essential amino acids) must come from the diet. The essential amino acids are isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Another amino acid, histidine, is considered semi-essential because the body does not always require dietary sources of it. The nonessential amino acids are arginine, alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, serine, and tyrosine. Other amino acids, such as carnitine, are used by the body in ways other than protein-building and are often used therapeutically.

Answer 3

what supplement has amino acid