Glucose

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Glucose (Glc), a monosaccharide (or simple sugar) also known as grape sugar, blood sugar, or corn sugar, is a very important carbohydrate in biology. The living cell uses it as a source of energy and metabolic intermediate. Glucose is one of the main products of photosynthesis and starts cellular respiration in both prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) and eukaryotes (animals, plants, fungi, and protists).

The name "glucose" comes from the Greek word glukus (γλυκύς), meaning "sweet", and the suffix "-ose," which denotes a sugar.

Two stereoisomers of the aldohexose sugars are known as glucose, only one of which (D-glucose) is biologically active. This form (D-glucose) is often referred to as dextrose monohydrate, or, especially in the food industry, simply dextrose (from dextrorotatory glucose). This article deals with the D-form of glucose. The mirror-image of the molecule, L-glucose, cannot be metabolized by cells in the biochemical process known as glycolysis.

For more information about Glucose, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with glucose

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Dessert on your mind? Your muscles may be getting the message

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Even the anticipation of sweets may cause our muscles to start taking up more blood sugar, say researchers reporting in the December issue of Cell Metabolism. That message is delivered via neurons in the brain's hypothalamus contai ...


Cancers' sweet tooth may be weakness

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

The pedal-to-the-metal signals driving the growth of several types of cancer cells lead to a common switch governing the use of glucose, researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have discovered.


Implantable Glucose Sensor Could Spell Relief for Millions of Diabetics (w/ Video)

Implantable Glucose Sensor Could Spell Relief for Millions of Diabetics (w/ Video)

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- UConn researchers have developed a tiny wireless device that can be inserted under a patient?s skin to monitor blood glucose levels over a period of several months.


Glucose intolerance in pregnancy associated with postpartum cardiovascular risk

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Women who have gestational glucose intolerance (a condition less severe than gestational diabetes) exhibit multiple cardiovascular risk factors as early as three months after birth, according to a new study accepted for publication ...


Sugary cola drinks linked for first time to higher risk of gestational diabetes

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers from LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's ...


Scientists find new link between insulin and core body temperature

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a direct link between insulin—a hormone long associated with metabolism and metabolic disorders such as diabetes—and core body temperature. While ...


Scientists find molecular trigger that helps prevent aging and disease

Medicine & Health / Research

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine set out to address a question that has been challenging scientists for years: How do dietary restriction—and the reverse, overconsumption—produce protective effects against aging ...