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Nitrogen occurs in all organisms, primarily in amino acids (and thus proteins), in the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and in the energy transfer molecule adenosine triphosphate. The human body contains about 3% by mass of nitrogen, the fourth most abundant element in the body after oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen.
Alpha amino acids have the -COOH and -NH2 groups both attached to the same carbon atom, called the alpha carbon atom. The simplest amino acid, which is the molecule glycine, H2NCH2COOH, contains no asymmetric carbon atoms (tetrahedral carbon atoms with four different groups attached). All of the other amino acids do contain such a carbon atom and are therefore optically active.