Biochemistry Courses

56:115:511,512 Biochemistry I,II (3,3) Study of the structure and function of proteins and enzymes. Analysis of the chemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids. Detailed survey of metabolic pathways, with an emphasis on regulation.

56:115:522 Protein Structure and Function (3) Basic structural principles of polypeptides, mechanisms of enzyme catalysis, biosynthesis and degradation of proteins, biophysical techniques used in the determination of protein structure, protein folding, protein-protein interactions, protein engineering.

56:115:524 Natural Product Chemistry (3) Survey of carbohydrates, amino acids, peptides, biopolymers, heteroaromatics, terpenes, steroids, fatty acids, and alkaloids.

56:115:525 Pharmaceutical Chemistry (3) This class will focus on the drug likeness of chemicals. Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Exclusion (ADME) and toxicity are those critical reasons to determine a compound to be an efficacious drug-like compound or not. The application of ADME/Tox research has been expanded from optimizing in vivo pharmacokinetics and safety to designing proper bioassay protocols. This class is to teach the students who will have the potentials to be engaged in the research and design process of new drugs.

56:115:527 Bionanotechnology: Discovery, Assembly, Function, and Application (3) Bionanotechnology is an emerging field that applies the fundamentals of nanotechnology to solving relevant biological and chemical problems and refining new methods and tools for medicine and energy. Nanotechnology refers to the revolutionary technology that manipulates matter with matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers. Molecular structures exhibit unique properties at this scale where the quantum phenomenon starts to play an important role as compared to bulk materials. Bionanotechnology describes the overlapping multidisciplinary activities where photonics, chemistry, biology, biophysics, nanomedicine, and engineering converge.

56:115:530 Forensic and Analytical Molecular Biology (3) This course provides a survey of the theories, quantitative analysis methods, and molecular bio-techniques commonly employed in forensic operations. Topics include genome structure, nucleic acid extraction, real-time PCR, digital PCR, end-point PCR, recombinant DNA techniques, interrelationship of DNA-RNA-protein synthesis, capillary electrophoresis, Sanger sequencing, massive parallel sequencing, dynamic modeling, and probabilistic genotyping for inference.

56:115:531 Forensic DNA Laboratory (1) At the completion of this course students will have an understanding of basic protocols, bio-analytical techniques, and procedures commonly applied in forensic DNA testing. They will be exposed to state-of-the-art forensic DNA interpretation methods based on probabilistic genotyping and will gain experience with common DNA extraction procedures, the polymerase chain reaction, the absolute quantification with real-time PCR, DNA fragment analysis using capillary electrophoresis, and quality control measures implemented in the human identification laboratory.

56:115:571 Forensic Serology (3) This course addresses the theory and practice of forensic serology.  Students will learn the presumptive and confirmatory testing methods used to determine the type and source of biological stains along with new technologies under development. Advanced techniques such as qPCR and mass spectrometry may also be explored.

56:115:573 Forensic Serology Laboratory (1) This lab section provides practical training in forensic serological techniques. Exposure to techniques including lateral flow immunochromatography and microscopy for purposes of fluid-type categorization will be explored. Corequisite: 56:115:571.

56:115:575,576 Special Topics in Biochemistry (BA,BA) Subject matter varies according to the expertise of the instructor and is drawn from areas of current biochemical interest.

56:115:619,620 Independent Studies in Biochemistry (BA,BA) Designed for students conducting original projects in chemistry in lieu of a research thesis. The project is designed and conducted in consultation with a sponsor from, or designated by, the graduate faculty.

56:115:701,702 Research in Biochemistry (BA,BA) Open only to students working on research for their thesis. Prerequisite: Permission of thesis adviser.