2472 - Biochemistry with a Medical Perspective

Course Description

Gain a university level understanding of cellular biochemical concepts. You'll learn how proteins are the action molecules of the body, how fat burns in metabolic pathways when you exercise, and how the genetic information stored in your DNA makes you unique. 

Learning Outcomes

• Proteins and Enzymes:
  • nature of bonds in molecules
  • characteristics of water, the universal solvent, and pH
  • structures and nature of amino acids, building blocks of proteins
  • levels of protein structure and protein 3-dimensional shape
  • nature of enzyme catalyzed reactions, their regulation, inhibition and mechanisms
  • hemoglobin, the oxygen transport protein
  • characteristics of carbohydrates found in nature
  • structures and nature of fatty acids and lipids found in biological membranes
  • structure and functions of membrane proteins: receptors, channels and pumps
• Metabolism:
  • basic concepts of metabolism and bioenergetics
  • how glucose fuels running via the glycolysis pathway and mitochondrial oxidation
  • building glycogen (polyglucose) reserves following meals
  • how glucose is made during prolonged exercise -how fatty acids serve as fuels in distance running
  • fat catabolism gone awry: diabetes and ketone bodies
  • eicosanoids and the biochemistry of inflammation
  • how fatty acids, phospholipids and cholesterol are made
  • amino acid and nucleotide metabolism
• Nucleic Acids and Biological Information Flow:
  • structures of the information molecules DNA and RNA
  • DNA replication in cell division
  • DNA Repair and Recombination -RNA synthesis
  • tRNA and mRNA processing
  • genetic code and protein synthesis
  • recombinant DNA technology

Notes

This online course is open to Canadian and international students, professionals, and individuals with an interest in biochemistry. For more information about this course, click here to visit the course web site or contact the Course Director: Dr. R. Andreopoulos (coursedirector.onlinebiochem at utoronto.ca).

This course is NOT available to University of Toronto students already registered in undergraduate degree programs at any of the three campuses of the University of Toronto. Before registering, students planning to use this course for admission to any academic program are strongly advised to get written confirmation from the institution to which they are applying. Students need access to a reliable high-speed internet connection for the entire duration of the course.

The University's copyright restrictions do not allow the online lectures to be downloaded or distributed on recordable media like DVDs. The video lectures may be viewed on either PC or Macintosh computers.  However, the quality of synchronization may vary depending on the internet browser used.

The information to allow access to the course materials will be sent to students approximately three days prior to the start date. If you are a late registrant, access information will take three business days to generate. Kindly register in time to start the course on the first day.

For this course and other SCS online courses, 100% of the tuition fee will be refunded if the withdrawal takes place within 10 business days following course start. No refund will be given after this deadline.

Please refer to this important sheet of frequently asked questions

Textbook

The required textbook is Biochemistry: A Short Course, by John Tymoczko, Jeremy Berg and Lubert Stryer, published by W.H.Freeman and Co., New York.  4th edition.  It is available online through the publisher: http://www.macmillanhighered.com/catalog

Recommendations

For this challenging course, you should have good knowledge of high-school biology and first-year university introductory chemistry, and consistent access to a reliable high-speed Internet connection.

This course may be applied towards the SCS Certificate(s) in

• Fundamentals of Biomedical Sciences I : Required Courses