Educational aims
i.e what is the purpose of the course and general statements about the learning that
takes place over the duration of the course

1. To give students a good understanding of the major areas of Biochemistry
2. To develop students’ understanding of the application of biochemical principles to
other areas of biology and biomedical sciences
3. To develop students’ awareness of the role of Biochemistry both as a research
discipline and its applications
4. Develop the key skills required for independent evaluation of data, critical appraisal of scientific literature.
5. Develop confidence in oral presentation skills to specialized audiences, and the
ability to write scientific reports.

Knowledge and understanding

The course provides a knowledge and understanding of the following:
1. Key concepts in areas of direct relevance to biochemistry
2. Structure and function of proteins
3. Key concepts in enzymology, metabolic pathways and their regulation
4. Mechanisms of enzymatic reactions, Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The most important metabolic pathways of carbohydrates, lipids, fatty acids and amino acids and connections between the metabolic pathways
5. Relevance of the knowledge of enzymic mechanisms, the metabolic pathways for research in metabolomics applied to human health issues and to pharmaceutical chemistry.
6. 7. Role of hormones in cellular communications and signal transduction
8. Theoretical basis of key biochemical and immunological practical techniques
9. Theoretical basis of the determination of protein structure
10. Basis of bioinformatics and sequence/structure analysis
11. Awareness of major issues currently at the forefront of Biochemistry research

Teaching/learning methods and strategies

The above mentioned points are achieved through lectures, group work and formative assessments, and are reviewed and reinforced in tutorials.

Intellectual/Communication skills and Judgements

1. Interpret and analyze biochemical data with a critical understanding of the appropriate contexts for their use
2. Integrate subject knowledge and understanding to explore and solve familiar and unfamiliar problems
3. Understand Biochemistry literature
4. Produce critical and original pieces of written work on biochemical topics
5. Think critically about their own work/research and to input into the formulation of future hypotheses and experiments
7. Ability to present Biochemistry to audiences of differing scientific knowledge
8. Computer skills, to include molecular viewers, data analysis/presentation, spreadsheets and statistical analysis.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The students will acquire the knowledge necessary for the understanding of the structures and functions of the living matter in molecular terms. Structures and functions of proteins, lipids, phospholipids. Structure-function relationship of protein and folding. Fibrous and globular proteins. Antibodies and their applications in analytical biochemistry. Importance of kinetics and thermodynamics in biochemistry. Biological membranes and transport systems. Mechanisms of enzymic reactions, Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The most important metabolic pathways of carbohydrates, lipids, fatty acids and amino acids. Mechanisms of regulation of metabolic pathways, production and conservation of energy. Connections between the metabolic pathways. Some aspects of the forefront research in biochemistry and, in particular, in metabolomic research, will also be illustrated, supported by advanced textbooks and scientific articles.



APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

The students will gain an insight into the relevance of the knowledge of biochemistry for pharmaceutical chemistry, biotechnology and, in particular, metabolomic research applied to human health. The knowledge acquired during the lectures will be consolidated by exercises regarding the single topics. Also, examples of problems which can be solved only by applying the knowledge on the enzymic mechanisms, metabolic pathways and their connections, will be proposed. The students will be encouraged to tackle the problems and to put forward the ideas on the possible solutions. The importance of the constant updating on the progress in the research will also be highlighted.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS
The knowledge and the understanding of the single topics will be consolidated through discussions regarding the conceptual and methodological approaches used in the studies on the metabolic reactions and on the connections among the metabolic pathways. The students will be encouraged to apply the acquired knowledge to new problems.
The discussions on the topics regarding the programme, presented in an interdisciplinary framework, together with the acquired knowledge, will help to develop the ability to make autonomous judgements, to gather and interpret relevant data regarding issues in biochemistry. In particular, examples of metabolomic research will be presented and the students will be encouraged to tackle the problems and put forward the ideas on the possible solutions.

COMMUNICATION

The knowledge of the biochemical bases of biological processes oriented towards applications in medicine and pharmaceutical research and framed in an interdisciplinary context, as well as the correct use of the biochemical terminology, contributes to develop the ability to communicate with specialist and nonspecialist interlocutors.

LEARNING SKILLS

The knowledge of the fundamentals of biochemistry and the ability to interpret the data, as well as the insight gained into the strategies of biochemical research, will enable the students to develop those skills needed to undertake further studies requiring a higher level of autonomy, such as the Master degree