Course Description3 semester hours. The goal of the course is to provide a critical understanding of the relationship between protein structure and function, including such issues as enzyme mechanisms, DNA and RNA recognition, and specific protein associations. Three dimensional structures of these macromolecules will be described in conjunction with study of the chemical and physical methods used in their purification and characterization. The laboratory provides hands-on experience with state-of-the-art equipment used in the biotech industry. Methods presented will include centrifugation, UV Vis spectroscopy, electrophoresis, chromatography. The laboratory experiments will allow students to gain experience in using computer applications related to the determination of the structures and properties of biological molecules and recent bioinformatics tools. The class meets for 2 hours of lecture each week. An additional 4-8 hours per week is spent learning the laboratory techniques. |
