Instructors: Dr. Miriam Ziegler and Dr. Roger Miesfeld
Lectures: MWF, 3:00-3:50 pm, ILC 120

Course Description: Spring Bioc 460 is a challenging one-semester three unit course for students interested in general biology, molecular biology, chemistry, pharmacy, physiology or nutrition. The course covers many aspects of biochemistry including protein structure and function, enzyme regulation, signal transduction, energy conversion pathways, metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids, and metabolic regulation. Bioc 460 is not open to Biochemistry majors. Prerequisites include Bioc 181R, and TWO semesters of organic chemistry; note that concurrent registration in the second semester of organic chemistry will NOT meet this requirement, and students who have not completed both semesters of O-chem prior to taking Bioc 460 will be administratively dropped from Bioc 460. Bioc 460 is also taught in the fall semester and will be taught in 2008 in Summer Pre-Session + Summer Session I (May 19-July 10), tentatively from 9:00-10:00 a.m. MTWThF.

Format: Lectures are based primarily on the required textbook (Berg, Tymoczko and Stryer, Biochemistry, 6th Edition), a blue hardbound textbook which is an excellent and highly up-to-date reference textbook of biochemistry. Students who will be taking BIOC 461 will need that full textbook. Students who will be not be taking BIOC 461, i.e. those who will be taking MCB 411 or will not be taking any nucleic acids/molecular biology course, may opt to purchase the less expensive paperbound (red) UA custom BIOC 460 version of Berg, Tymoczko and Stryer Biochemistry, 6th edition. NOTE: The custom edition lacks all chapters on nucleic acids, protein biosynthesis, control of gene expression, and other chapters not covered in BIOC 460. Lecture notes will be available through the course web site.

This course is intensive and challenging, covering a substantial amount of information, much of which will be new to you. It is expected that students will have read the text assignments before each lecture to provide a foundation for the classroom discussions. A minimum of 2-3 hours of study time outside of class per lecture is recommended to succeed in learning the course material. Importantly, subsequent lectures build on previous lectures, and falling behind in your understanding of the material will likely result in a poor performance on exams. If you had trouble with organic chemistry, a Bioc 460 course prerequisite, it is strongly recommended that you review this subject area early in the semester. The course will also rely strongly on your understanding of general chemistry -- concepts of thermodynamics, chemical equilibrium, proton dissociation equilibria, working with concepts of pH and pK_a, etc., as well as algebra and use of logarithms -- log₁₀ and natural logs (ln_e). A simple nonprogrammable scientific calculator (one that does log and ln functions) will be required in the course; programmable calculators will not be permitted for quizzes and exams.

Resource materials available at the UA Bookstore:
Textbook (required):
Biochemistry, 6th Edition, J. M. Berg, J. L. Tymoczko and L. Stryer, W.H. Freeman and Co. (2007) (blue, hardbound)
or
UA Custom BIOC 460 version of Biochemistry, 6th Edition, J. M. Berg, J. L. Tymoczko and L. Stryer, W.H. Freeman and Co. (2007) (red, paperback) (a partial textbook with just chapters needed for BIOC 460; buy this only if you will not take BIOC 461 and do not need or want the chapters on nucleic acids and molecular biology for future reference.)

Note that the textbook by Boyer used in fall 2007 is not being used in spring 2008 or summer 2008.