Biochemistry is the study of the chemicals structures and processes
of living organisms.
Note: The listing of a course in the Calendar is not a guarantee that the
course is offered every year.
Note: Students must obtain a grade of at least C- in all courses used to
fulfill prerequisite requirements. Otherwise, written permission of the
appropriate Department Head or Program Co-ordinator must be obtained.
BIOC 1001 (3CR)
BIOCHEMISTRY I
Format: Integrated Lecture and Tutorial, 3 hours
This course introduces current topics and advances in Biochemistry and
engages students in the scope and activities of the discipline. It examines
the central role of water in biological systems, leading to an introduction
of acid-base equilibria, the properties of biological membranes, and the
bioenergetics of solutes moving across membranes. It introduces the principles
of carbon bonding and electronegativity, leading to coverage of the bioorganic
functional groups, whose characteristic properties and reactions combine to create
the highly complex biological macromolecule classes of carbohydrates, proteins,
nucleic acids, and lipids.
BIOC 2001 (3CR)
BIOCHEMISTRY II
Format: lecture 3 hours, laboratory 3 hours
Prereq: BIOC 1001; or permission of the Program Advisor
Exclusion: Any version of BIOC 2001 previously offered with a different title
This course discusses the structures, properties, reactions, and syntheses
of the principal macromolecules in living cells with a major emphasis on the relation
between the structures and functions. It also explores elementary enzyme catalysis and
covers the paths, key structures, and organization of primary metabolism
including glycolysis, citric acid cycle, beta oxidation of fatty acids, respiratory electron
transport, chemiosmotic generation of ATP, and photosynthesis with
an emphasis on bioenergetics, oxidation and reduction, and metabolic fluxes.
BIOC 3001 (3CR)
EXPERIENTIAL BIOCHEMISTRY
Format: integrated lecture and laboratory, 6 hours
Prereq: BIOC 2001; or permission of the Program Advisor
This course teaches students to plan and conduct a range of current biochemical
analyses including spectroscopy, gas analyses, and chromatographic separations and imaging,
with particular emphasis on the new opportunities opened through high-throughput computerized
data capture applied to both established and new instrumental analyses. In parallel it
guides students through the processes of plotting, interpreting, and presenting the meaning
of their results.
BIOC/BIOL 3031 (3CR)
MOLECULAR ANALYSES
Format: Integrated Lecture and Laboratory, 6 Hours
Prereq: BIOC 2001; or permission of the Program Advisor
Exclusion: BIOC 3531, BIOC 3021
This course focuses on experiential analysis and computer modeling of key concepts of
the molecular basis of biology, including nucleic acid structure, synthesis, and replication
through template-directed polymerizations. The course builds on these key concepts to explore
gene structure, expression, and engineering, leading to the wide-ranging applications of
molecular biology to biology, medicine, and diagnostics.
BIOC/CHEM 3131 (3CR)
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY: BIOORGANIC
Format: lecture 3 hours
Prereq: CHEM 2121; or permission of the Chemistry Department
Note: This course is cross-listed and may therefore count as three credits in
either discipline. Chemistry students should register for CHEM 3131
This course presents the principles of organic chemistry as they apply to biochemical
problems. Topics covered include enzymic reaction
mechanisms, enzyme cofactors, peptide and nucleic acid synthesis, and
enzymes in organic synthesis.
BIOC 3501 (3CR)
METABOLISM
Format: lecture 3 hours
Prereq: BIOC 2001; or permission of the Program Advisor
This course examines the co-ordinated biochemical transformations of matter,
energy and information through metabolic pathways. It covers metabolic strategies
and pathways, including chemoautotrophic, heterotrophic, and photoautotrophic metabolism.
It emphasizes carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, with related topics in lipid,
nucleotide, and secondary metabolism. There is a strong emphasis on how organisms
integrate metabolic paths, and how fluxes through paths are balanced.
BIOC 3521 (3CR)
PROTEIN BIOCHEMISTRY
Format: lecture 3 hours, laboratory 3 hours
Prereq: BIOC 2001; or permission of the Program Advisor
This course examines the relations between protein structure and function at
the primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary levels; enzyme catalysis and mechanism;
isolation, purification, and characterization of proteins; the metabolism of proteins
through synthesis and degradation; and recent trends in protein design. Students learn
sequence comparison, motif searching, and development of visual protein structures
constructed from the protein structural data bases available over the web. The course
introduces mass spectroscopic analyses of the proteome and protein sequencing.
BIOC/BIOL 3711 (3CR)
BIOCHEMICAL ECOLOGY
Format: seminar 3 hours
Prereq: BIOL 2101, BIOC 2001; or permission of the Biology Department
Note: This course is cross-listed and may therefore count as three credits in either
discipline.
This course deals with the biochemistry of interactions between animals, plants and
microorganisms that occur in the natural environment. It places strong emphasis on the
role of "secondary metabolites" or "natural products" such as alkaloids,
flavonoids, terpenoids, etc., in the insect-plant, vertebrate-plant, plant-plant and
vertebrate-vertebrate relationships.
BIOC 4011 (3CR)
IMMUNOCHEMISTRY
Format: lecture 3 hours
Prereq: BIOC 2001; or permission of the Program Advisor
This course explains the core molecular structures of the immune system: antibodies
and their interactions with antigens. It places these molecular interactions in the context
of the cells and tissues of the immune system and the signaling cascades that regulate immune
responses. The course concludes with topics in immunology and applications of immunochemistry.
BIOC 4021 (3CR)
LIPID AND MEMBRANE BIOCHEMISTRY
Format: lecture 3 hours
Prereq: BIOC 2001; or permission of the Program Advisor
This course covers the metabolism of major classes of lipids, their roles in signal
transduction, and their interactions with proteins.
BIOC 4031 (3CR)
SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION
Format: lecture 3 hours
Prereq: BIOC 2001; or permission of the Program Advisor
Exclusion: BIOC 4501
This course examines 'traditional' theories and modeling of biochemical
regulation at the levels of substrate, enzyme (particularly through phosphorylation
networks), gene transcription, and protein translation. It compares this traditional
approach to alternative systems based approaches of metabolic control theory
and looks at how biochemical systems adapt to drastic modification through gene
knockouts or protein over expression, and examines how some of these recent
approaches pose a serious challenge to conventional thinking on biochemistry and physiology.
BIOC/CHEM 4351 (3CR)
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY: BIOINORGANIC
Format: lecture 3 hours
Prereq: CHEM 3321; or permission of the Chemistry Department
Note: This course is cross-listed and may therefore count as three credits in
either discipline.
This course examines the roles metals play in biochemical systems, and includes an
overview of bioinorganic chemistry and a discussion of metals in medicine.
BIOC 4903 (3CR)
CURRENT ADVANCES IN BIOCHEMISTRY
Format: seminar 3 hours
Coreq: Registration in BIOC 4990; or permission of the Program Advisor
This is a seminar course for Honours students in Biochemistry, which critically
evaluates a wide range of topics from the current literature. Students are expected to
deliver seminars on topics outside their thesis areas and to present preliminary thesis
results.
BIOC 4950/4951 (6/3CR)
INDEPENDENT STUDY IN BIOCHEMISTRY
Format: Independent Study
Prereq: Permission of the Department/Program Advisor. Students must obtain
consent of an instructor who is willing to be a supervisor and must register
for the course prior to the last day for change of registration in the term
during which the course is being taken.
Note: A program on Independent Study cannot duplicate subject matter covered through
regular course offerings.
Note: Students may register for BIOC 4950/51 more than once, provided the subject
matter differs.
This course permits senior students, under the direction faculty members,
to pursue their interest in areas not covered, or not covered in depth, by other
courses through a program of independent study.
BIOC 4990 (6CR)
HONOURS THESIS
Format: independent study/thesis
Prereq: Consent of supervising staff member prior to registration and permission of the
Program Advisor
The honours thesis is based upon a program of original student research conducted with
the advice of an academic supervisor.
BIOC 1991/2991/3991/4991 (3CR)
SPECIAL TOPIC IN BIOCHEMISTRY
Format: Variable
Prereq: Set by the Department/Program when the topic and level are announced
Note: When a Department or Program intends to offer a course under this designation,
it must submit course information, normally at least three months in advance, to the Dean.
Note: Students may register for BIOC 1991/2991/3991/4991 more than once, provided the
subject matter differs.
This course either focuses on topics not covered by the current course offerings
in a department or program or offers the opportunity to pilot a course that is being
considered for inclusion in the regular program.