Biological Sciences
BIO 102: Biochemical and Cellular basis of life (Credit, 3)
- Elemental Composition of biomolecules and importance of carbon.
- Properties of water, hydrogen bonding- biochemical properties and importance.
- Concept of pH, pKa and buffers. Bioenergetics, laws of thermodynamics & reaction kinetics.
- Structure & function of biological macromolecules,
Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids: structure and function of DNA & RNA
Monosaccharides and Carbohydrates: importance in metabolism & cell function
Amino acids and Proteins: Physical & Chemical properties of amino acids and primary, secondary,tertiary & quaternary structure of proteins
Lipids and fatty acids: simple & complex lipids and introduction to sterols - Central themes of metabolism. Introduction to metabolic pathways, general principles underlying the design of metabolic pathways.
- Elementary enzymology, pathway integration and regulation.
- Basic idea of Cell, Cell functions: cell as a unit of life and the site for life processes.
- Prokaryotic cell and Eukaryotic cell - Structure and function (Overview of cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm and components therein, cytoskeleton and cell motility).
- Structure and functions of cell organelles: Mitochondria, Chloroplasts, Golgi, ER and lysosomes.
- Mechanism of perpetuation of life at molecular, cellular, organismal and population levels: DNA/RNA replication, cell division & cell cycle, sexual and asexual reproduction:
Suggested Books:
- Life: The Science of Biology, Vol. I Ninth Edition by David E. Sadava et al.,
- Biological Science by Scott Freeman et al.,
- Molecular Cell Biology, 8th Edition. by Harvey Lodish et al.,
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