🧱 What are peptides?
Simply put, peptides are substances that exist between amino acids and proteins. If a living organism were likened to a building, then amino acids would be the individual bricks (of which there are about 20 types), and proteins would be the completed structures (such as muscles, organs, and immunoglobulins). Peptides, meanwhile, act as the semi-finished wall sections formed by bonding bricks and mortar together. A peptide is created when two or more amino acids are linked together by "peptide bonds." Generally, chains of 2 to 10 amino acids are called oligopeptides (or small-molecule peptides); those with 11 to 50 amino acids are called polypeptides; and once the number of amino acids exceeds 50, the structure evolves into a protein.