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Biopolymers There are four classes of biopolymers found in and used by living cells; lipids, polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids. All are polymers of smaller monomer units joined together. Key concepts: all the monomers used in the construction of biopolymers are made from one or more carbon atoms joined with covalent bonds to other carbon atoms and usually hydrogen and oxygen. the main backbone of each biopolymer is a single chain of repeated monomer units. One class of biopolymer is sometimes branched, but the rest are always single, straight chains. hydrocarbons (one of the main constituents of lipids) and some polysaccharides are considered to be homopolymers (all the monomers in a particular chain are the same). proteins, polynucleotides and some polysaccharides are considered to be heteropolymers as their main chains consist of more than one kind of monomeric unit. Science@a Distance © 2001, Professor John Blamire