How to work with Protein Synthesis

Protein synthesis is very important. The human body contains about 100,000 different types of protein. The body needs protein to grow, heal, and carry about nearly every chemical reaction in the body.

Protein also forms a very important part of our diet – and our Christmas dinner! Take the turkey for example, packed full of protein. But how protein-rich have Christmas dinners been throughout history?

In Tudor times, Christmas feasting was taken very seriously, and involved copious amounts of meat! Some of their choices may seem quite peculiar to us today. Can you imagine carving the Christmas badger, or stuffing a blackbird?! Add some peacock and swan to that along with a boar’s head and you are on your way. The Tudors loved meat and their meals would definitely have provided them with enough protein.

Moving on to the Georgians, who were partial to lots of luxurious food. The more meat the better, as it showed how wealthy and important they were. They were particularly fond of venison, beef and mutton. However, just like the Tudors, they also ate some foods we would probably not choose today. For example, turtle soup, or brawn (a meat jelly made from the boiled head of a calf). Even the mince pies and Christmas pudding contained meat alongside the dried fruit and sugar.

By Victorian times, lots of roast meat was still a very popular choice, with plenty of beef, turkey and venison on the menu. But as well as the abundance of protein, vegetables became a more important part of the meal for the rich as well as the poor. And even then sprouts, love them or hate them, were an integral part of a traditional Christmas dinner.

GCSE  scientists – you need to be able to explain the synthesis of protein. For help, try our new guide “How to work with Protein Synthesis”. It includes a description of transcription and translation.  As always there are questions to try, and answers to check your understanding.

Click on the picture below to see the guide.