Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.
There are twenty common amino acids but many more when you take into account the modified forms of the 20 plus other rare ones. When condensed together on the ribosome, proteins are formed. Because amino acids are made up of a central carbon surrounded by 4 different groups of atoms an unusual property emerges. Compounds that exhibit this property are said to be chiral. The central carbon atom is said to asymmetric and the two possible forms are said to be stereoisomers or enantiomers Fig.