May 2002

Curriculum Working Party Report on the Core Content of Biochemistry First Degrees

Appendix 1

A list of topic objectives to define the main content of the core curriculum. These topics should be supported by appropriate laboratory experience.

The core subjects could be expanded to reflect the specialist interests of the staff involved (see for example the section on ‘Metabolism’). This certainly should be the case in honours programmes and for extended undergraduate degree programmes.

Chemistry

The aim of the core material in chemistry is to provide the student with sufficient knowledge of the basics of chemistry (physical, inorganic and organic) to be able to study and understand the subject of biochemistry. The content should include a sensible grounding in the following topics:

• Atomic and molecular structure
• Thermodynamics, particularly of solutions
• Electrochemistry
• Functional-group organic chemistry
• Chemical reaction kinetics
• Analytical methods e.g. NMR, MS
• Bio-inorganic chemistry.

Molecular Biology including Molecular Genetics

The aim should be to acquaint students with current ideas on the structure, arrangement, expression, regulation and evolution of genes in living organisms, both prokaryote and eukaryote. By the end of the degree, the student should be expected to understand:

• The Central Dogma
• The chemical and physical properties of nucleic acids
• The genetic code
• Replication and transcription
• Repair and recombination
• Post transcriptional processing
• Translation
• How genes are structured, organised and expressed
• The regulation of gene expression
• Basic techniques for analysing, cloning and sequencing DNA.

Metabolism, including regulation and intracellular signalling

The student should gain an understanding of:

• Anabolic and catabolic pathways including the key intermediates linking these pathways
• The physiological significance of these pathways
• The principles of flux control and metabolic regulation
• Intracellular signalling and second messengers
• The mechanisms that regulate the activity of key pathways in order to meet physiological demands
• The metabolic differences between animals, plants, and micro-organisms
• Inborn errors of metabolism and the metabolic basis of diseases.

Emphasis should be placed on problem solving rather than an ability to memorise individual pathways. The aim should be to present a coherent integrated account of cell metabolism with emphasis on the mechanisms of regulation.

This is one area of the curriculum that lends itself to particular specialisation depending on the expertise of individual departments. Different degree programmes may wish to specialise in particular areas of metabolism, in addition to the core material. For example, mammalian metabolism could include more detail on the following:

• The digestion and assimilation of food
• The control of the synthesis and storage of glycogen and triacylglycerol by metabolites and hormones
• The role and control of glycogenolysis in liver and muscle
• The control of gluconeogenesis in the liver
• The consequences of lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation in liver and muscle; ketone body synthesis in liver, and the use of ketone bodies in muscle and brain
• Aspects of amino acid metabolism - transdeamination and urea synthesis; excretion of urea and ammonia.

Similarly, areas of special emphasis could be developed in plant and bacterial metabolism.

Biological Catalysis

The degree programme should provide an understanding of biological catalysis based on the structure of biological catalysts (see Macromolecules below) and the chemistry of reactions (see Chemistry above). The student should be able to explain:

• Theories of catalysis at the molecular level from studies of the reaction kinetics and of the molecular structures of enzymes
• Experimental techniques for the study and analysis of enzyme kinetics
• Enzyme reaction mechanisms including the role of co-factors
• Regulation of enzyme activity
• Multi-enzyme complexes.

Macromolecules

The student should become familiar with the general molecular structure and reactivity of carbohydrates, nucleic acids, proteins and lipids. Particular aspects should include:

• A review of the functions of macromolecules
• Molecular interactions between ligands and macromolecules
• Protein primary structure and evolution
• Protein folding (and misfolding)
• Protein conformation, including the display and manipulation of structural information on the computer
• Supramolecular structures such as chromosomes, cell walls and viruses
• Techniques for studying macromolecular structure including purification and characterisation.

Membrane structure and function, including bioenergetics and transport

The aim is to understand the structure and role of membranes in cellular processes including signal transduction, solute transport and energy transduction. The mechanisms of coupling exergonic reactions to endergonic reactions should include:

• the role of ion gradients
• the role of redox reactions
• chemical intermediates.

Wherever possible, a quantitative approach should be taken.

Cell biology and intercellular signalling

The aim is to provide an understanding of the structure and function of the cell with examples from animals, plants and micro-organisms. Emphasis should be placed on subcellular organization and the dynamics of cellular function. In particular the student should be familiar with the following:

• A comparison of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure
• The functions of the major subcellular structures.
• The basis of cellular and subcellular organization including problems of compartmentation
• The cytoskeleton and its components
• Molecular motors
• The changes taking place during cell division, cell differentiation and cell death, including apoptosis
• Cell-cell signalling
• Hormones and receptors (relate to intracellular signalling, see Metabolism above)
• The main techniques used in cell biology.

Biotechnology

The aim is to introduce applications of biochemistry which have proven technological worth. The student should be introduced to:

• Research and development in biotechnology industries and bioentrepreneurship
• Intellectual property rights
• Ethical considerations.

Bioinformatics

This should include:

• Genome projects and genomic resources
• Concepts of the proteome, transcriptome and metabolome
• Use of computer techniques and programmes in bioinformatics
• Molecular modelling.

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