ABSTRACT
This chapter presents introduction to the molecules that underlie all biological structure and function. The study of biomolecules has always been associated with human disease, its causes and cures. Disease can, in fact, often be connected to the specific structures of biomolecules and their modifications, not just an invasion of foreign microorganisms or viruses. Since the 1990s, virtually all displays of complex biomolecules, as well as even larger, supramolecular structures like viruses and ribosomes, have been via desktop or laptop computers and online databases. The vast majority of structural and active molecules in biosystems are polymers, made up primarily of the “medium-sized” molecules, with a sprinkling of small molecules or ions to enable specific interactions with other molecules. Informatics is often incorporated into protein-engineering or directed-evolution approaches. Informatics can best be understood by thinking of the online databases of protein structure and sequence. Polypeptides are linear polymers made up of amino acids bound together by peptide bonds.
