This course gives an introduction into the world of biological chemistry to students interested in careers in medicine, dentistry, biomedical engineering and traditional biology programs. The course begins with the molecular design of life — an introduction to proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids. These molecules will then be put into context when bioenergetics and metabolism will be discussed. Students will also learn how polypeptides adopt their specific three-dimensional structure to become proteins, and how proteins then fulfill their individual functions in enzyme catalyzed reactions, assist in the formation and function of membranes, and other important cellular processes. Major metabolic pathways will also be introduced. Other topics that will be discussed include biosignaling and hormone action. Students will learn how to apply bioinformatics to obtain useful information about these molecules using databases and will obtain valuable knowledge about state of the art biochemical and molecular biology techniques.

Textbook: Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, Nelson and Cox. 5th edition.

Course Requirements:

Grades in this course are based on performance in a discussion session, several small projects, and four in-class exams (no midterm or final exams are offered; Exam 1,2, or 3 may be dropped).

Intended Audience:

Students interested in careers in medicine, dentistry, biomedical engineering and traditional biology programs.

Class Format:

Once every second week there will be a discussion session or tutorial. Here, lecture material can be clarified, study guide questions will be discussed and the term project, a metabolic Map of cells, will be worked on.