Before we dive in, imagine this: You're in your kitchen, making a necklace out of beads. Each bead is different, but the thread connecting them is the same. Now, swap those beads for amino acids and the thread for peptide bonds! 💡

Ingredients

• 2 Amino Acids

Instructions

• Mix the amine group (–NH₂) of one amino acid with the carboxyl group (–COOH) of another.
• VOILÀ! You've formed a dipeptide with a water molecule on the side (Hence, it's called a "condensation" reaction).

Just like your favorite movie series, one dipeptide is not the end! Add more amino acids through more condensation reactions, and you'll get longer and longer chains!

• Short Chain (<20 amino acids) - Called oligopeptides.
  • Think of them as the short stories of the amino acid world.
• Longer Chain - Known as polypeptides.
  • These are the novels that can't be put down!

Guess what? Polypeptides are the superstar ingredients in proteins. 🍖