Course Identification
Chemistry module: Molecular Biochemistry
Lecturers and Teaching Assistants
Dr. Shirley Daube
Course Schedule and Location
Tuesday, 09:15 - 12:00, Musher, Lab 1
05/10/2021
Field of Study, Course Type and Credit Points
Science Teaching (non thesis MSc Track): Lecture; Elective; Regular; 4.00 points
Restrictions
For students in the Rothschild-Weizmann program only
Attendance and participation
Required in at least 80% of the lectures
Estimated Weekly Independent Workload (in hours)
Syllabus
- Introduction to molecular biochemistry: from genes to proteins
- The discovery of DNA
- Chemical and physical properties of nucleic acids
- Analytical methods for nucleic acids characterization
- DNA transactions: replication; transcription; mutagenesis; repair.
- DNA supercoiling and packaging
- RNA – structure and function
- DNA in nanotechnology and medicine
- Primary structure of proteins
- Secondary structural elements and predictions
- Tertiary structure: basic folding motifs, topology
- Quaternary structure: oligomerization and polymerization
- Protein stability and folding
- Protein kinetics: Enzymes
Learning Outcomes
The teachers will become familiar with the structure of biological polymers and the relationship between structure and function. They will learn chemical and physical methods to characterize and quantify biomolecules and will be exposed to cutting edge research and development relevant to nucleic acids and proteins.
The teachers will be trained to analyze experimental results and deduce biochemical mechanisms through thought-provoking tutorials. At the end of the course the teachers should be able to independently understand and evaluate simple texts relevant to nucleic acids and protein research and teach basic concepts to high school students.