ABSTRACT
There may be many ways to divide nature. One way is to divide it according to being alive,
that is, self-replicating and the ability to be dead, and nonliving such as rocks and sand.
Again, we have two further main divisions-plants and animals. In this, and the following
chapter, we will deal with materials that are alive or were once alive. With the exception of
lignin, the chemical groups that constitute animals and plants are the same on the macrolevel.
Both base their ability to replicate on nucleic acids that form genes containing the blueprint
for their life. But, the two classifications do differ on the major building material. Animals
have proteins as their basic building material, while plants have polysaccharides as their basic
building material. All of the basic building and genetic materials are polymeric.
