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INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
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    Normally "Biochemistry" is one of the transition classes - one that moves into much greater specialization that were previous courses. Yet, because it is so relatively specialized, there are a huge amount of new terms and concepts that must be gotten through. It is still a "putting tools into the toolbox" course. But it brings you to the frontier where you can start using its tools - as well as many of the others you have learned in the past years - to solve significant problems - new problems never approached before.

    Look back at your years of education from kindergarten to now (and through this coming semester). All were in place to equip you to solve problems in your future life. All were rather cookbook - all the recipes and protocols nicely defined. All you needed to do was follow them and get the same results that zillions of predecessors have also done. But the end of this course, you will be equipped to tackle new problems, to begin writing your own protocols, and being truly creative and inventive.

    In preparation with that, as THIS semester continues, the instruction will become ever less defined. You will be forever nudged further to think for yourself how to get a task done. At first this is daunting, but your hesitation and shyness about doing this should quickly wane after you have gotten past your disgust that the instructor won't do all the thinking for you and make life easy for you. This is a course in - tough love! And the quicker you get used to it, the happier you will be. Freedom! You can think for yourself!

    Does this have risks? That is why you should always maintain contact with the instructor, who will socratically guide you along a less hazardous pathway. For the instructor, years of experience has shown him that if students must jump hurdles, every so often one student finds a way that is better than the usually prescribed ways in manuals. If we go according to history, we ought to make two or three such improvements this semester.

    It shall be assumed that all students have had biology and a few months of organic chemistry. The two most challenging things most students have are the huge molecular weights most things are in this course, and the endless pathways as our bodies process one thing to make the next. It is assumed that students know about, among other things, pH, redox, the rudiments of glycolysis and the Krebs Cycle, the lac-operon, and the reactive groups on organic molecules.

    REPORTS Previous editions of this course at this university have been "writing intensive." This time we shall be not only that but also "speaking intensive," because at the end of the course, you will all give a short scientific presentation on work that YOU have done in this course. This will be discussed further in the lab notes. Regarding the writing part, your group will turn in papers written in journal format on two of the "missions" in the course. The first paper will be on the first mission - a study of the lac-operon, so keep your eyes and ears open on the first day of class/lab!

    All QUIZZES and exams will be given in the laboratory period (or elsewhere!). As so often in life, times of trial will not be announced as to their form, so always be prepared. You may face anything from a common closed-book, individual, timed quiz, all the way to an open book/notes, group take-home quiz that will be found and submitted via website/internet.

    Grading: