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Article: Metabolism, Cellular
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- Biology
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Metabolism, Cellular
Cellular metabolism is the sum total of all the biochemical reactions taking place within a cell. It includes all the reactions involved in degrading food molecules, in synthesizing
macromolecules
needed by the cell, and in generating small precursor molecules, such as some
amino acids
, for cellular needs. It also includes all reactions involving electron transfers (oxidationreduction, or redox, reactions). Metabolism takes place in sequences of biochemical reactions called pathways.
Metabolic Pathways
Metabolic pathways can be simple linear sequences of a few reactions, or they can be extensively branched with reactions converging on or diverging from a ...