Biochemistry I Recitation in VR: Leveraging Virtual Reality

Catalog description

In this course, we will use virtual reality to explore the basic biochemistry of living systems and how this knowledge can be harnessed to create new medicines. We will learn how living systems convert environmental resources into energy through metabolism, and how they use this energy and these materials to build the molecules required for the diverse functions of life. We will discuss the applications of this biochemical knowledge to mechanisms of disease and to drug discovery. We will look at examples of drug discovery related to neurodegeneration, cancer, and the SARS-CoV-2 COVID19 pandemic. This course satisfies the requirement of most medical schools for introductory biochemistry, and is suitable for advanced undergraduates, and beginning graduate students. This course is equivalent to and replaces the prior course named UN3501, and is equivalent to the course offered in the Fall semester. This course is a co-requisite to GU4501. We will meet twice each week in Zoom (Tuesday and Thursday 2:30-5:15, GU4501) to discuss the course material. We will then meet Friday 9:30-10:30 each week in virtual reality, using the Spatial.io platform and an Oculus Quest headset. In VR, we will examine the 3D spatial concepts relevant to biochemistry, where you will be able to examine molecular structures in an immersive format