For Whom Intended

This is a 200-level course which is intended for studnets who need a comprehensive introduction to biochemistry but who do not have an extesive background in college level chemistry. (If you know now that you intend to declare a major in biochemistry or biology, you shoulc register for alternative courses.)

Course Description

This course will reviem key elemnets of general chemistry and will introduce you to the disciplines of organic and biochemistry. Lectures in combination with readings in the textbooks will begin with components of general chemistry that are critical for an understanding of biochemistry. This will be followed by a review of organic chemistry principals and stryctures, again with a focus on material that is most important for an understanding of biochemistry. The last half of the course will be concerned with the structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids, lipids, and carbohydrates; principles of chemical equilibria, enzymes catalysis, and bioenergetics; fundamental metabolic pathways; and the chemical nature of genetic information storage and transmission. The ultimate objective of this course is to provide a foundation for undertsanding the chemistry of biological systems, i.e., to prepare you to comprehend the composition of living cells and their physiological processes at the molecular level.