Free Online Course from Open Learning Initiative on Biochemistry

The Open Learning Initiative offers a free online course on biochemistry. This course is designed for both Biology and Chemical Engineering majors. This course focuses on understanding the interactions of biological molecules from a structural, thermodynamic, and molecular dynamic point of view.

This course assumes that students have taken introductory chemistry, including basic thermodynamics, as well as introductory organic chemistry. Required mathematical skills include simple algebra and differential calculus.

Main Course Objectives:

By the time they finish this course, students will be able to:

• Predicting how changes in structure affect function.
• Utilizing quantitative approaches to characterize structure-function relationships in biochemical systems.

The major topics in the course are:

• Protein function, including oxygen transport, antibody function, and enzyme-catalyzed reactions.
• Structure and function of carbohydrates and their importance in central metabolism.
• Lipids and biological membranes.
• Central aspects of metabolism and metabolic control.
• Nucleic acid biochemistry, with emphasis on recombinant DNA technology.

Course Syllabus:

UNIT 1: Overview

UNIT 2: Biochemistry

• Module 2: Introduction and Water Structure
• Module 3: Acids and Buffers
• Module 4: Protein Structure
• Module 5: Binding
• Module 6: Enzymes
• Module 7: Protein Purification and Structure Determination
• Module 8: Carbohydrates
• Module 9: Lipids
• Module 10: Metabolism
• Module 11: Recombinant DNA and Central Dogma
• Module 12: DNA Replication

UNIT 3: Glossaries

System Requirements:

OLI system requirements, regardless of course:

• Internet access.
• An operating system that supports the latest browser update
• The latest browser update (Chrome recommended; Firefox, Safari supported; Edge and Internet Explorer are supported but not recommended)
• Pop-ups enabled
• Cookies enabled
• Some courses include exercises with exceptions to these requirements, such as technology that cannot be used on mobile devices.

This course’s system requirements:

• A full desktop operating system, such as Windows or Mac OS X.
• Flash
• Java

About Open Learning Initiative:

Designed by learning scientists at Carnegie Mellon University, OLI uses data and research insights to develop, test, and improve OER course materials.

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