The biochemical reactions that occur with living cells

The biochemical reactions that occur with living cells are all referred to as metabolic reactions. In all organisms, metabolic reactions can either take the form of anabolism or catabolism. Catabolism describes all metabolic reactions in which large molecules are broken down to smaller and in the process, a release of energy occurs (Bhagavan 34). Anabolism on the other hand describes metabolic reactions in which small molecules are joined together to form larger molecules. Anabolic reactions generally require energy to take place. An example of an anabolic reaction is the creation of proteins from amino acids.

In all organisms, metabolic reactions occur in series referred to as metabolic pathways. A metabolic pathway is a series of progressive biochemical reactions utilized by a cell to transform an input substance into an end product (Gropper and Smith 64). The pathways can be cyclic, in which the biochemical reactions reproduce the initial product, or linear, in which reactions produce a different product.