MBIOL 6410 - Protein and Nucleic Acid Biochemistry

The Biochemistry course covers the structure and function of nucleic acids and proteins, as well as the thermodynamics and kinetics of their interactions with each other and with other biologically important molecules. It is expected that all students have taken an undergraduate course in Biochemistry, and you may find it useful to review chapters discussing the above-mentioned subjects in an undergraduate Biochemistry textbook. (Chapters 3,4,5 & 8 of Biochemistry 2001 by Berg, Tymozko and Stryer, {www.whfreeman.com/biochem5} are quite useful.) You will also need to have a basic working knowledge of kinetics and thermodynamics. (So, if you are not comfortable working with equilibrium constants, free energies, and rate constants, please review these topics in an undergraduate chemistry text.) There are no required texts for this class; readings from various texts will be made available to the class. A few days before school begins, there will be a brief and very basic pass/fail pre-exam to make sure you are adequately prepared for the graduate biochemistry course. If you do not pass this exam, we will meet with you to discuss alternative coursework to strengthen your biochemistry background. To receive further details and updates, please contact barbara.saffel@genetics.utah.edu. For more information please go to: http://www.bioscience.utah.edu/curriculum/corecourses.html