Transcript: Cells are tiny chemical factories, and they are essential for every complex life form on Earth. They have several major ingredients that are important for their function. Carbohydrates are the basis of all the structures in cells. In the every day world, we are familiar with carbohydrates because they can store energy. Other carbohydrates involve cotton, wood, cellulose for example. Lipids are important because they store energy, and they were used to form the first barrier and therefore cell walls, and finally proteins, which are the workhorses of cells, engaging in a wide array of chemical reactions. The particular form of proteins called enzymes are essential in cell function because they participate in reactions but are unchanged by them. These forms of proteins act to accelerate reactions and can be used many times, making the efficiency of the chemical work of a cell very high.