What is a polymer? Polymers are substances containing a considerable amount of structural units joined by the same type of bond. The moment you hear the word polymers, you think it is produced in huge chemical plants. In reality, polymers have been present in nature since the beginning. All living things, plants, animals and people, are made of polymers. However, what you don't know is that there are different types of polymers: synthetic ones that use harmful toxins to be synthesized, and they are natural ones. There are numerous polymers that fall into the natural process and are used both in our society and in our body, which are cellulose; starch, gum, protein and both are DNA and RNA and much more. For starters, cellulose is made up of glucose units found naturally in plants, such as corn. Since all plants produce it, it is probably the most abundant organic compound on Earth. In addition to being the primary building material for plants, cellulose has many other uses. Cellulose is used as a precursor in the production of ethanol. So what happens next is that the glucose is fermented by the yeast to produce ethanol. Ethanol is an important product because it is used in alcoholic beverages and... middle of paper... natural polymers help build our society and our bodies. Long ago, before plastics and synthetic polymers existed, in fact, since the beginning of the earth, nature has been using natural polymers to make life possible. We do not consider natural polymers to be on the same level as synthetic polymers because they are produced with immense amounts of chemicals. However, that doesn't make natural polymers any less important: it turns out they are the most important in many ways. To summarize, natural polymers include proteins, which are contained in our bodies, and RNA and DNA are so important in the genes and starches we produce from food and build things and make clothes with cellulose. Works Cited - Cellulose. In (2011). Retrieved from http://www.scienceclarified.com/Ca-Ch/Cellulose.html-Mathias, L. J. (2005). Retrieved from http://pslc.ws/macrog/natupoly.htm-
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