Amino Acids

There are twenty different kinds of amino acids found in living cells.  All amino acids have a central carbon atom which makes four attachments.  Three of the attachments are the same for all kinds of amino acids.  The fourth attachment differs for each of the 20 kinds of amino acids.


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Basic Structure of an Amino Acid
The letter R represents one of twenty different structures.

material adapted from http://www.contexo.info/DNA_Basics/