Question

1. Amino acids are often broken down into two groups, essential and nonessential. Essential amino acids must be eaten in order to survive as we don’t make them. This is why intaking a certain amount of protein is so important to the body. In one of the greatest scientific finds of the 21st century, amino acids were discovered inside meteorites that had impacted the earth. Interestly, the amino acids contained different side chains and configurations than those found on earth. These “alien” amino acids mark a new step towards finding living creatures from a planet different than our own.

Based on what you know about amino acids, if humans were to travel to other planets that had life forms on them, could we sustain ourselves on their food? Provide an explanation for your conclusion.

2. Think about the parts of the homeostatic mechanism…….choose to write about blood glucose levels and explain how it illustrates the concept of the homeostatic mechanism. You should identify the stimulus, receptor, control center, effector, and expected results for the chosen example. You should also predict what would happen if there was a breakdown in the homeostatic mechanism.

2.

Answer 1

Answering Question 1:

It is known that the human body is able to digest the L conformation of amino acids and the D conformation amino acids are eliminated from the body. The build-up of these D conformation amino acids is found to be associated with certain diseases in the human body.

Hence, life on other planets would be possible only if the essential amino acids that we need are available in conformations and constitutions that can be digested and absorbed by humans.