Free Online Courses: Biochemistry

Course Description

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of the molecular foundations of life, focusing on the study of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids, as well as the core pathways regulating energy transformation and metabolism. Modeled on an Ivy League Biochemistry curriculum, it emphasizes the chemical and thermodynamic principles underlying enzyme function, metabolic regulation, and the integration of biochemical pathways. Students will learn how these molecular-level processes shape cellular activities, human health, and disease states, laying a robust groundwork for advanced studies in biology, medicine, and related fields.

Through lectures, readings, and discussion-based sessions, the course investigates how water’s properties facilitate biological reactions, how enzymes catalyze and regulate essential transformations, how nutrients are broken down and stored, and how disruptions in these pathways can result in metabolic disorders. Special emphasis is placed on the experimental evidence and scientific methodologies that have clarified the molecular basis of life.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

1. Analyze how the properties of water, pH, and thermodynamics enable and drive biochemical reactions.

2. Describe the structure, function, and regulation of key biomolecules (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids).

3. Explain enzyme mechanisms, kinetics, and regulatory strategies that ensure metabolic efficiency and control.

4. Compare and contrast major metabolic pathways (glycolysis, TCA cycle, oxidative phosphorylation) and explain their interconnectivity.

5. Evaluate how organisms synthesize and degrade biomolecules (amino acids, nucleotides, fatty acids) to maintain homeostasis.

6. Discuss the hormonal regulation of metabolism (insulin, glucagon) and how it adapts to fed and fasting states.

7. Assess how dysfunctions in metabolic pathways contribute to diseases such as diabetes and how treatments target these disruptions.

8. Interpret and critique primary research findings, experimental designs, and methods commonly used in biochemistry labs.

Table of Contents

• Lesson 1: Introduction to Biochemistry, Water, and Thermodynamics

• Lesson 2: Amino Acids and Peptides

• Lesson 3: Protein Purification and Analysis Techniques

• Lesson 4: Protein Structure, Folding, and Allostery (Hemoglobin Case Study)

• Lesson 5: Enzyme Catalysis Mechanisms

• Lesson 6: Enzyme Kinetics and Inhibition

• Lesson 7: Carbohydrate Structure and Function

• Lesson 8: Lipid Structure and Biological Membranes

• Lesson 9: Nucleic Acid Structure (DNA & RNA)

• Lesson 10: Bioenergetics and Energy Carriers

• Lesson 11: Glycolysis and Fermentation

• Lesson 12: Gluconeogenesis and Glycogen Metabolism

• Lesson 13: Pentose Phosphate Pathway and Other Carbohydrate Pathways

• Lesson 14: Citric Acid Cycle (TCA Cycle)

• Lesson 15: Oxidative Phosphorylation and Electron Transport Chain

• Lesson 16: Photosynthesis and Carbon Fixation

• Lesson 17: Fatty Acid Oxidation (Lipid Catabolism)

• Lesson 18: Fatty Acid Synthesis and Storage

• Lesson 19: Amino Acid Catabolism and the Urea Cycle

• Lesson 20: Amino Acid Biosynthesis

• Lesson 21: Nucleotide Biosynthesis and Degradation

• Lesson 22: Integration of Metabolism and Energy Homeostasis

• Lesson 23: Hormonal Regulation of Metabolism (Insulin and Glucagon)

• Lesson 24: Metabolism in Health and Disease (Diabetes as a Case Study)