Biological Sciences 102, Spring Quarter 2015 Section 002, CRN 43757

Relevant Information & Syllabus

Instructor:

Walter S. Leal, Ph.D., FRES

Email: wsleal@ucdavis.edu
Office Hours: Mon & Wed 4-5 PM, 2089 SLB
http://daviswiki.org/Sciences_Laboratory_Building

Teaching
Assistants:

Silvia Hilt, PhD Candidate BMB/DEB Graduate

Groups
Email: slhilt@ucdavis.edu
Office Hours: Tue 1:30-2:30 PM, Fri 9-10AM, 3061 SLB
Corinne E. Rich, Viticulture & Enology Graduate Program
Email: cerich@ucdavis.edu
Office Hours: Mon, 5-6PM; Fri, 1:30-2:30 PM, 3061 SLB
If none of these time slots work for you and you are still
interested in attending office hours, please take the
following Doodle pool:
http://doodle.com/poll/vu3wbiuh2zkywemt
We will try to add another time slot, provided that we can
make the logistics work.

Course Objectives:

This course will enable students to describe how the structure

of the major chemical compounds in cells determines their
behavior and enables their biological roles. This includes
understanding how chemical principles govern the structure
and interactions of molecules with their environment and
each other, and how quantitative methods can be used to
examine molecular processes in living systems.

Students will:

be able to apply these concepts to solve problems in

biochemistry,
be able to immediately recognize the primary types of
biochemical molecules and know their essential chemical
characteristics that enable their roles in cells,
appreciate the central and essential importance of water as
polar solvent in biological chemistry,
be able to quantitatively determine the effects of hydrogen
ion concentration on the ionization state and charge of
biological molecules,

understand classical and modern methods of biochemical

analysis and evaluate the meaning of experimental results,
understand and quantitatively evaluate how chemical
energetic principles drive all processes in cells,
be able to describe how the set of weak chemical interactions
drive folding of proteins and assembly of supramolecular
structures such as protein complexes and biological
membranes,
be able to describe the molecular and energetic basis of
enzymatic specificity and catalysis,
quantitatively analyze enzymatic reaction rate data and use
this information to determine the kinetic properties of an
enzyme and properties of enzyme inhibitors, and
understand how the function of protein molecules can be
altered by binding other compounds present in their cellular
environment.
Texts

Optional: Biochemistry, Garrett & Grisham, ISBN-13: 978-1133-10629-6, 5th Ed (the 4th Ed could also be used). The
publisher offers also eChapters at $6.99 per chapter:
http://www.cengagebrain.com/shop/en/US/storefront/US?c
md=CLHeaderSearch&fieldValue=9781133106296
Optional: Biochemical Calculations, 2nd Ed., I. H. Segel,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1976, ISBN 0-471-77421-9

Important Web Sites

Podcast and other important class material, possibly

including PowerPoint lectures, will be posted on SmartSite.
Other material, including eProblem solutions, may be
posted on the website of the Instructors laboratory:
http://chemecol.ucdavis.edu/ and/or Adobe Connect (you
may want to install Adobe Connect Mobile on your
handheld device). We encourage the use of the Chat Room
for discussion as we are unable to answer emails with
individual questions. Additionally, there could be
opportunities to ask questions through Adobe Connect
before exams. In the event that we receive individual
questions via email, we reserve the right to share them with
all students via Chat Room, office hours, or the like so that
the group as a whole would benefit from our answers or
clarifications.

Course Format

Lectures are on Tue and Thu from 12:10-1:30 PM, SocSci

1100, https://localwiki.org/davis/1100_Social_Science

Voluntary reviews and, possibly eReviews, will be arranged

before midterms and the final exam. The instructor will
make every effort possible to talk to students after class.
However, the instructor will not be available immediately
after lecture as there will be limited time (5-10 min) to
disconnect all devices and make the room available for the
next instructors. In short, the instructor is not available for 510 min after class, but readily available thereafter. Likewise,
the short period of time before the lecture is dedicated for
technical arrangements.
Grading*

Midterm 1, Tue, January 26

25%
Midterm 2, Thu February 18
30%
Final Exam Sat, March 19 at 1 PM
45%
Filming could take place during the exams!
(Final is cumulative, but emphasis will be given to material
covered after the second midterm)
The two midterms and the final exam will be administered at
assigned times only, except for students with documented
evidence of loss or sickness per university policy and with
instructors agreement. Extended times will be given for
students with proper university documentation, but exams
will start at the same time for all students. It is the students
responsibility to make certain that his/her extended time will
not overlap with the beginning of another final exam. If you
have/will have university documentation for an extended
exam and have another final exam scheduled for March 19h
before 5 PM, please contact the instructor as soon as possible
but not later than January 26 so as to explore possible
alternatives. After the first midterm, no alternative
accommodations will be explored for the final exam.

*Grades will be calculated on the basis of the class curve. Watch out for trade-ins and
other opportunities (typically a one-time offer during classes)

Syllabus

Not necessarily in this order Introduction to Biochemistry;

Biological Thermodynamics; Water Properties; Buffers;
Lipids; Amino Acids; Protein Structure and Functions;
Hemoglobin and Allostery; Separation and Characterization
of Amino Acids and Proteins; Enzyme Kinetics & Inhibitors;
Membranes

(Case studies, such as practical examples of isolation and

characterization of proteins, enzyme kinetics and inhibition,
as well as drug discovery, will be included to illustrate some
of these topics)
Homework

Homework may be assigned, but not graded.

How-to-do-well

To earn a good grade, follow previous students advice:

attend classes and office hours, and take advantage of
additional material (e-Problems, e-Reviews, etc). Group
study is also very helpful.

Optional Reading

For Lectures from Jan. 5-21 (tentative schedule):

Garrett & Grisham, Chapters 1-4; Segel, Chapter 1, Chapter
3A, 3G.
For Lectures from Jan. 28-Feb. 16 (tentative schedule): Garrett
& Grisham, Chapters 5, 6, 13; Segel, Chapter 4A
For Lectures from Feb. 23-March 10 (tentative schedule):
Garret and Grisham, Chapters 13 (contd)-15, 8, 9; Segel,
Chapter 4A-4E (contd).