Q.What are biomolecules? Explain the building blocks of life.

Step 1. Biomolecules are the chemical substances present in the protoplasm of a living cell, built mainly from the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus and a few others.

Step 2. They are broadly organic (macromolecules and micromolecules) or inorganic (mineral elements).

Step 3. The macromolecules — polysaccharides, polypeptides and polynucleotides — are each polymers of a specific monomer: monosaccharides build polysaccharides (carbohydrates); amino acids, linked by peptide bonds, build polypeptides (proteins); nucleotides (sugar+phosphate+base) build polynucleotides (nucleic acids).

Step 4. Fatty acids and glycerol are the building blocks from which lipids are assembled, though lipids are comparatively small molecules rather than long-chain polymers. …

Define biomolecules broadly, then state the monomer building …

• Listing only proteins/amino acids as 'building blocks of life' and forgetting the other three biomolecule classes. …