The main topic of this course is "the chemistry of life". Organisms have evolved and adapted to the environment where they live and harvest nutrients to survive, grow and replicate. The processes enabling the organisms to do this is thoroughly regulated. We will start with structure and properties of important biomolecules as water, proteins, carbohydrates, fat and DNA. Then we will use the acquired knowledge to understand important processes as energy conversion and biological synthesis within cells.

In the weekly lectures we will cover central parts of the curriculum. The learning objectives are described in detail in a document which is distributes when the course start. This document is a guide for the student when the read the text book. There are also weekly colloquiums where the students work with assigned problems. The topics are coordinated with the laboratory courses KJB210/KJB201.

Knowledge:

After passing KJB200, the student should have an understanding of:

• how proteins are built up and how they may appear in three dimensions.
• what enzymes are and how they catalyze chemical reactions.
• structural and chemical properties of carbohydrates and fat and how these molecules are transformed within the cell.
• the structures and properties of DNA and RNA building blocks and how these are polymerized into nucleic acids.
• how information is stored and extracted from DNA.
• how the cell produces "chemical energy" to drive internal processes.
• how plants harvest light and convert this energy to "chemical energy".
• how biological membranes are constructed and how molecules are transported across membranes.
• how biological processes in the cell are regulated.

Skills:

After passing the course, the student should be able to recognize biomolecules, understand metabolism and the basis of the genetic code. The student should also be able to reflect and have a critical evaluation of the mentioned subjects.

General competence:

After passing KJB200, the student will be qualified for courses in advanced biochemistry and other aspects of biotechnology (such as molecular biology, natural product chemistry etc)

- Cox & Nelson: Lehninger principles of biochemistry (7th edition).

- Compendium (will be available on Canvas)

• Organic chemistry equivalent to KJM210.
• Cell biology equivalent to BIO100.

• Lectures: 48 hours.
• Discussion groups: 48 hours.
• Individual study: 204 hours.