A homology in chemistry refers to a chemical compound from a series of compounds that differ only in the number of repeated structural units.^[1] A homolog is a special case of an analog. Examples are alkanes and compounds with alkyl functional groups that differ in the length of their sidechain (the repeating unit being methylene group -CH₂-) or a peptide with one amino acid replaced by another.

Homology in medicine refers to being from the same family. For example, Hormone of gastrointestinal tract Gastrin is homologous to Cholecystokinin (CCK), meaning, they are from the same family of hormones.

[edit] See also

• Analog
• Congener
• Structure-activity relationship

[edit] References

1. ^ IUPAC definitions

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