Comprotein
Margaret Oakley Dayhoff, Robert S. Ledley · 1962
Among the main chemical constituents of the human body--and, in fact, of all living things--are proteins. In addition to serving as component structural parts of many types of living tissues, the proteins are enzymes that are necessary in order that the chemical reactions which comprise the life processes may occur. The protein enzymes act to "decode" the message of the genes, interpreting this message in terms of specific chemical reactions which determine the physical and functional characteristics of the organism. Thus proteins play a uniquely vital role in the evolution, ontogeny, and maintenance of living organisms. It therefore becomes important when studying the basis of life processes to know the structure of the proteins themselves.