Metabolism Autotrophs such as plants can construct the complex organic molecules in cells such as polysaccharides and proteins from simple molecules like carbon dioxide and water. Heterotrophs, on the other hand, require a source of more complex substances, such as monosaccharides and amino acids, to produce these complex molecules. Organisms can be further classified by ultimate source of their energy: photoautotrophs and photoheterotrophs obtain energy from light, whereas chemoautotrophs and chemoheterotrophs obtain energy from inorganic oxidation reactions. Photosynthesis is the synthesis of carbohydrates from sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO). In plants, cyanobacteria and algae, oxygenic photosynthesis splits water, with oxygen produced
Doubly labeled water The first application to humans was in 1982, by Dale Schoeller, over 25 years after the method was initially discovered. A complete summary of the technique is provided in a book by British biologist John Speakman. The technique measures a subject's carbon dioxide production during the interval between first and last body water samples. The method depends on the details of carbon metabolism in our bodies. When cellular respiration breaks down carbon-containing molecules to release energy, carbon dioxide is released as a byproduct. Carbon dioxide contains two oxygen atoms and only one carbon atom, but food molecules such as carbohydrates