Lecture Notes: Metabolism in Organisms

Overview

• Metabolism: The total sum of all chemical reactions occurring in an organism.
• Comprises two main processes:
  • Catabolism
  • Anabolism

Catabolism

• Involves breaking down complex molecules into simpler ones.
• Harvests energy from these processes.
• Stores energy typically in the form of ATP.

Anabolism

• Involves building complex molecules from simpler ones.
• Utilizes energy acquired through catabolic processes.

Energy Efficiency

• Neither catabolism nor anabolism is completely efficient.
• Some energy is lost to the environment as heat at each step of the metabolic processes.