General Biochemistry

Catalog description

Principles of the structure and function of biological molecules, including carbohydrates, lipids, membranes, proteins, and enzymes. BMB 401H General Biochemistry (3) is the first course of the honors general biochemistry series, a sequence designed to prepare students for careers and graduate study in the life sciences. Overall, biochemistry describes, in chemical and molecular terms, the structures, mechanisms, and chemical processes at work in all living things, and abstracts organizing principles that underlie life in all its diverse forms. Building upon concepts introduced in molecular and cellular biology and in organic chemistry, students in BMB 401H synthesize and apply this knowledge toward understanding the structure and function of the major classes of cellular constituents: water, and the various macromolecules -- amino acids and proteins, sugars, and polysaccharides, nucleotides and nucleic acids, fatty acids and lipids, and membranes and various membrane proteins. These molecules interact to comprise the next level of multi-and mixed molecular structures and organelles that enable a cell to carry out its many metabolic functions. Students also learn about the technologies used to study cellular components and processes, and current advances in biotechnology that have accelerated the pace of discovery in the field. Having gained familiarity with the molecules found in a cell, students are well-equipped to take on more advanced topics in the exciting, rapidly-evolving fields of the life sciences. An overriding theme in biochemistry is that polymers of living systems, though structurally large and functionally complex, are highly ordered chemical entities, with specific sequences of monomeric subunits giving rise to discrete structures and functions. The course begins with an introduction to proteins, covering the structural basis of protein functions and then moves on to enzyme kinetics and mechanisms. Next, students explore simple and complex carbohydrates and topics in glycobiology that include energy storage, framework skeleton, and specific molecular recognition. Various classes of lipids, including phospholipids, complex lipids, membrane biology and transport systems, are covered next. Following is an analysis of the biochemical basis of signal transduction describing how specific signals regulate biomolecular activity-within a cell, and between cells-to keep an organism in homeostasis. Lastly, as a transition to intermediary metabolism in BMB 402H , an introduction to bioenergetic principles is included to provide a framework for understanding pathways of carbon and nitrogen metabolism, using glycolytic reactions as an example. Students may not receive credit for both CHEM 476 and BMB 401H .