Module description
This module introduces chemists to the importance of cellular contents in performing the chemical reactions that underpin life. It builds on General Chemistry while bringing students with and without A-level biology onto the same page with understanding biological macromolecules and machinery. This will be essential for the students’ comprehension of modules later in the programme.
The module will:
- Provide knowledge and understanding of mechanisms and thermodynamics of chemical processes in the cell: central metabolic pathways, principles of enzyme active site catalysis, thermodynamics of biochemical processes
- Convey the multidisciplinarity and role of chemical ideas in understanding biology
- Enable students to apply basic chemical principles in unfamiliar biochemical contexts to generate hypotheses
- Introduce key concepts of cell biology (e.g. organelles of the cell, biological membranes and cell compartmentalisation, transcription, translation and replication)
- Introduce key concepts of protein structure (e.g. amino acids, peptide bonds, protein secondary structure, chemical bonding, interaction forces/hydrogen bonds)
Assessment details
Written examinations and coursework.
| Exam |
70% |
| Literature Review |
30% |
Full Year students will follow the normal assessment pattern.
As the final exam for this module takes place in the May exam session, there is an alternative assessment made up of 50% coursework and 50% oral examination, for students attending in semester 1 only.
Educational aims & objectives
This module introduces chemists to the importance of cellular contents in performing the chemical reactions that underpin life. It builds on General Chemistry while bringing students with and without A-level biology onto the same page with understanding biological macromolecules and machinery. This will be essential for the students’ comprehension of modules later in the programme.
The module aims to provide knowledge and understanding of mechanisms and thermodynamics of chemical processes in the cell and convey the multidisciplinarity and role of chemical ideas in understanding biology. It enables students to apply basic chemical principles in unfamiliar biochemical contexts to generate hypotheses and gives an introduction to the key concepts in cell biology, protein structure and chemical biology.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the module the student should be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of the structural features of biological cells, including the structure of biological membranes
- Demonstrate knowledge of the primary, secondary and tertiary structure of proteins
- Demonstrate knowledge of the processes of transcription, translation and replication
- Demonstrate knowledge of the central metabolic pathways – glycolysis, Krebs cycle, including the structures of the metabolites and the mechanisms of their interconversion
- Understand the thermodynamics of these processes and the source of the energy derived from them
- Demonstrate qualitative understanding of the kinetic principles of enzymatic catalysis, including expressing these ideas in terms of reactions coordinate diagrams
- Understand relationship of structure and bonding in intermediates and transitions states, including covalent and non-covalent interactions
- Demonstrate qualitative understanding of the role played by entropy in biochemical processes
- Understand the role of cell organisation in the optimization and control of metabolic processes: compartmentalization via membranes, organized multienzyme /co-enzyme systems
- Energetics of cells – membrane potentials/osmotic gradients, energy store co-enzymes/Oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial function
- Understand the role of chemical manipulations to alter and study biological molecules, including fluorescent tags and unnatural amino acids.
- Understand how chemical probes are discovered and used to investigate biological mechanism
- Demonstrate ability to generate hypothesis relating to cellular chemistry relating to unfamiliar examples and contexts using basic principles
- Suggest experimental approaches to investigate the hypothesis
- Use a variety of information sources in a directed learning setting
Indicative Syllabus
- Biological polymers
- Biological catalysis and energy production
- Equilibrium and redox reactions
Teaching pattern
31 hours lectures, 6 hours workshops