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Unit Summary
Unit type
UG Coursework Unit
Credit points
12
AQF level
Level of learning
Intermediate
Former School/College
Pre-requisites
BIO00307 - Human Physiology] AND CHE10700 - Chemistry for Health Sciences]
Unit aim
Provides an overview of general biochemistry to enable students to understand the role of chemical reactions in biological systems. Covers basic biochemical organisation and processes of the body, bioenergetics, selected metabolic pathways, and methods of separation and characterisation of molecules of biological interest.
Unit content
- Review of organic functional groups, cellular structure and function, and properties of water
- Amino acids and protein structure, function, biological roles, and metabolism
- Enzymes, coenzymes, reaction kinetics
- Metabolism and bioenergetics: Krebs cycle, electron transport chain and ATP synthesis
- Carbohydrates: structure, function, biological roles, and metabolism
- Lipids: structure, function, biological roles, and metabolism
Learning outcomes
Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.
| On completion of this unit, students should be able to: | GA1 | GA2 | GA3 | GA4 | GA5 | GA6 | GA7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | describe the key chemical and structural characteristics of amino acids, proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates, lipids and cell membranes. | |||||||
| 2 | relate the chemical and structural characteristics of biochemical molecules to their biological roles and functions. | |||||||
| 3 | discuss the metabolic pathways of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, and explain bioenergetics in a cellular context. | |||||||
| 4 | explain the inter-related nature of metabolic pathways and how they are regulated in human biochemistry. | |||||||
| 5 | interpret data and explain the link between theory and the experimental process. | |||||||
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
-
describe the key chemical and structural characteristics of amino acids, proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates, lipids and cell membranes.
- GA1:
- GA4:
-
relate the chemical and structural characteristics of biochemical molecules to their biological roles and functions.
- GA1:
- GA4:
-
discuss the metabolic pathways of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids, and explain bioenergetics in a cellular context.
- GA1:
- GA4:
-
explain the inter-related nature of metabolic pathways and how they are regulated in human biochemistry.
- GA1:
- GA4:
-
interpret data and explain the link between theory and the experimental process.
- GA1:
- GA4:
Prescribed texts
- Tymoczko JL, Berg JM, and Stryer L, 2015, Biochemistry, a short course, 3th edn, WH Freeman and Co., New York, USA. ISBN: ISBN-13: 9781464126130; ISBN-10: 1464126135.