Examples of natural polymers

Maybe you haven't realized it, but you are a bundle of polymers! To list a few examples: the DNA in your cells, the hair on your head, the proteins in your muscles, and the lipids in your tissue are polymers! They are natural polymers, meaning they are not human-made.

We also find natural polymers in plants and other animals, which means that food is also natural polymers. If you were to make yourself a burger, everything from the bread (gluten is a combination of natural polymers) to the cheese (protein chains and lipids), ham (protein chains), and lettuce (cellulose) would be a natural polymer!

Figure 1: Examples of natural polymers.