The Discovery of the Structure of DNA: Double Helix, Biochemistry (2000) – Video

Posted on by


The Discovery of the Structure of DNA: Double Helix, Biochemistry (2000)
The Double Helix : A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA is an autobiographical account of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA written by James D. Watson...

By: The Film Archives

See the article here:
The Discovery of the Structure of DNA: Double Helix, Biochemistry (2000) - Video

Biochemical ‘fossil’ shows how life may have emerged without … – Science Daily

Posted on by

One major mystery about life's origin is how phosphate became an essential building block of genetic and metabolic machinery in cells, given its poor accessibility on early Earth. In a study published on March 9 in the journal Cell, researchers used systems biology approaches to tackle this long-standing conundrum, providing compelling, data-driven evidence that primitive life forms may not have relied on phosphate at all. Instead, a few simple, abundant molecules could have supported the emergence of a sulfur-based, phosphate-free metabolism, which expanded to form a rich network of biochemical reactions capable of supporting the synthesis of a broad category of key biomolecules.

"The significance of this work is that future efforts to understand life's origin should take into account the concrete possibility that phosphate-based processes, which are essential today, may not have been around when the first life-like processes started emerging," says senior study author Daniel Segr (@dsegre) of Boston University. "An early phosphate-independent metabolism capable of producing several key building blocks of living systems is in principle viable."

Phosphate is essential for all living systems and is present in a large proportion of known biomolecules. A sugar-phosphate backbone forms the structural framework of nucleic acids, including DNA and RNA. Moreover, phosphate is a critical component of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which transports chemical energy within cells, and a compound called NADH, which has several essential roles in metabolism. But it is unclear how phosphate could have assumed these central roles on primordial Earth, given its scarcity and poor accessibility.

In light of this puzzle, some have proposed that early metabolic pathways did not rely on phosphate. In many of these scenarios, sulfur and iron found on mineral surfaces are thought to have fulfilled major catalytic and energetic functions prior to the appearance of phosphate. One notable origin-of-life scenario suggests that the role of ATP was originally assumed by sulfur-containing compounds called thioesters, which are widely involved in protein, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism. Despite the availability of iron and sulfur on early Earth, concrete evidence supporting these scenarios has been lacking.

To test the feasibility of the "iron-sulfur world hypothesis" and the "thioester world scenario," Segr and his team used computational systems biology approaches originally developed for large-scale analyses of complex metabolic networks. The researchers used a large database to assemble the complete set of all known biochemical reactions. After exploring this so-called "biosphere-level metabolism," the researchers identified a set of eight phosphate-free compounds thought to have been available in prebiotic environments. They then used an algorithm that simulated the emergence of primitive metabolic networks by compiling all possible reactions that could have taken place in the presence of these eight compounds, which included formate, acetate, hydrogen sulfide, ammonium, carbon dioxide, water, bicarbonate, and nitrogen gas.

This analysis revealed that a few simple prebiotic compounds could support the emergence of a rich, phosphate-independent metabolic network. This core network, consisting of 315 reactions and 260 metabolites, was capable of supporting the biosynthesis of a broad category of key biomolecules such as amino acids and carboxylic acids. Notably, the network was enriched for enzymes containing iron-sulfur clusters, bolstering the idea that modern biochemistry emerged from mineral geochemistry. Moreover, thioesters rather than phosphate could have enabled this core metabolism to overcome energetic bottlenecks and expand under physiologically realistic conditions.

"Before our study, other researchers had proposed a sulfur-based early biochemistry, with hints that phosphate may not have been necessary until later," Segr says. "What was missing until now was data-driven evidence that these early processes, rather than scattered reactions, could have constituted a highly connected and relatively rich primitive metabolic network."

Although this non-experimental evidence does not definitively prove that life started without phosphate, it provides compelling support for the iron-sulfur world hypothesis and the thioester world scenario. At the same time, the study calls into question the "RNA world hypothesis," which proposes that self-replicating RNA molecules were the precursors to all current life on Earth. Instead, the results support the "metabolism-first hypothesis," which posits that a self-sustaining phosphate-free metabolic network predated the emergence of nucleic acids. In other words, nucleic acids could have been an outcome of early evolutionary processes rather than a prerequisite for them.

"Evidence that an early metabolism could have functioned without phosphate indicates that phosphate may have not been an essential ingredient for the onset of cellular life," says first author Joshua Goldford of Boston University. "This proto-metabolic system would have required an energy source and may have emerged either on the Earth's surface, with solar energy as the main driving force, or in the depth of the oceans near hydrothermal vents, where geochemical gradients could have driven the first life-like processes."

In future studies, the researchers will continue to apply systems biology approaches to study the origin of life. "My hope is that these findings will motivate further studies of the landscape of possible historical paths of metabolism, as well as specific experiments for testing the feasibility of a phosphate-free sulfur-based core biochemistry," Segr says. "The idea of analyzing metabolism as an ecosystem-level or even planetary phenomenon, rather than an organism-specific one, may also have implications for our understanding of microbial communities. Furthermore, it will be interesting to revisit the question of how inheritance and evolution could have worked prior to the appearance of biopolymers."

Story Source:

Materials provided by Cell Press. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Continue reading here:
Biochemical 'fossil' shows how life may have emerged without ... - Science Daily

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – University of Maryland …

Posted on by

Faculty of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology are dedicated to understanding life at the biochemical, genetic and cellular level. Our major goals are to make discoveries that provide new knowledge regarding the mechanisms that drive cellular systems and to move these findings from the bench to the bedside. Our second and equally important goal is to educate the next generation of highly-trained and capable scientists and physician investigators.

Using state-of-the-art biochemical, molecular and cellular approaches, our distinguished faculty are investigating protein structure and how this influences function, signal transduction mechanisms, apoptosis regulators, cancer biology, tumor suppressors, and DNA repair processes, muscle contractile mechanisms, and fluorescent measurement.

This effort includes the use of high-tech instrumentation including nuclear magnetic resonance, fluorescence spectroscopy, crystallography, proteomics/mass spectrometry and fluorescent cell imaging. The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ranks in the top twenty in NIH funding among biochemistry departments in public medical schools and in the top twenty among biochemistry departments in all medical schools. Medical and graduate education are key components of the Departments mission. Faculty train medical school students in molecular and cell sciences and support the MD/PhD program. The Biochemistry Graduate Program provides comprehensive training in preparation for independent research careers. The Biochemistry Graduate Program includes two tracks: Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Structural Biology.

Link:
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - University of Maryland ...

BS in Biochemistry – TWU Department of Chemistry …

Posted on by

Students who complete this degree program will receive American Chemical Society professional certification. This program is recommended for those contemplating admission to medically-related professional programs, working towards advanced degrees in chemistry, or careers in the chemical industry.

The following list of required courses does not include university-wide core classes.

CHEM 1001Horizons in Chemistry I CHEM 1101Horizons in Chemistry II CHEM 1111Chemical Principles Laboratory I CHEM 1113Chemical Principles I CHEM 1121Chemical Principles Laboratory II CHEM 1123 Chemical Principles II CHEM 2211Organic Chemistry Laboratory I CHEM 2213Organic Chemistry I CHEM 3221 Organic Chemistry Laboratory II CHEM 3223Organic Chemistry II CHEM 3313Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences CHEM 3334Quantitative Analysis CHEM 3632Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry Laboratory CHEM 3633Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry CHEM 3643Metabolic Biochemistry CHEM 4001Research Presentations in Chemistry and Biochemistry

BIOL 1111Principles of Biology Laboratory I BIOL 1113Principles of Biology I BIOL 1121Principles of Biology Laboratory II BIOL 1123Principles of Biology II

MATH 2014Introductory Calculus I MATH 2024Introductory Calculus II

PHYS 2151General Physics Laboratory I PHYS 2153General Physics I PHYS 2161General Physics Laboratory II PHYS 2163General Physics II

See the original post:
BS in Biochemistry - TWU Department of Chemistry ...

Students Present Thesis Work at Biophysical Society Meeting – Wesleyan Connection (blog)

Posted on by

Wesleyan Connection (blog)
Students Present Thesis Work at Biophysical Society Meeting
Wesleyan Connection (blog)
Molecular biology and biochemistry graduate student Sudipta Lahiri presented on the Elucidation of the Structure-Function Relationship of S. cerevisiae MutS Homolog Msh4 and Msh5 with the Holliday Junction. Lahiri's advisor is Ishita Mukerji, the ...

Read more:
Students Present Thesis Work at Biophysical Society Meeting - Wesleyan Connection (blog)

Major In Biochemistry | Undergraduate Program | Department …

Posted on by

About the Program

The Biochemistry major provides students with an integrated education in biochemistry that brings together the basics of biochemistry and its application to biological systems. The major takes advantage of the diversity of molecular/biochemical research and coursework that is offered at Rutgers at SEBS and the other schools. Students will apply their basic understanding of biochemistry to a specific area of interest, ranging from toxicology /pharmacology, to food and nutritional sciences, microbiology, animal science, and plant biology. This redesigned and enhanced curriculum follows the recommendations of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) and has components of both a traditional coursecentered approach to teaching and the more current content- and outcome-centered approach. The purpose of the major is to prepare students for futures in science, either through obtaining advanced degrees or through entering the workforce in the pharmaceutical, biotechnological and chemical industries, government service, communications, law and many other fields.

Learning Goals for Biochemistry (11:115)

Degree: Bachelor of Science

All students must complete the SEBS core requirements appropriate for students majoring in Biochemistry (Areas I through VII below), plus the additional major requirements (Area VIII A through Fbelow). To enroll in 11:115:403,404 General Biochemistry (4,3), students, be they majors in Biochemistry or not, must have completed 01:160:307-308 Organic Chemistry (4,4) or 160:315-316 Principles of Organic Chemistry with grades of Cor higher.

V. Human Behavior, Economic Systems, and Political Processes (9 credits)

VI. Oral and Written Communication (6 credits)

VII. Experience-Based Education (3 credits)

VIII. Proficiency in Biochemistry (94 credits)

The major in Integrated Biochemistry consists of the six parts A through F listed immediately below. They are described briefly here; the specific requirements are listed below.

Detailed Requirements

I. Life and Physical Sciences Core The following are required with the exception of 01:160:251 01:119: 101/102 General Biology I and II (4,4) 01:160: 161/162 General Chemistry I and II (4,4) or equivalent 01:160: 171 General Chemistry Laboratory (1) 01:750:193/1941 Physics for the Sciences (4,4) or 01:750:201/202 Extended General Physics (5,5) or 01:750:203/204 General Physics I and II (3,3) 01:160: 307/308 or 315/316 Organic Chemistry I and II (4,4) 01:160:309 or 311 Organic Chemistry Laboratory (2) 01:447:380 Genetics (4)

II. Biochemistry Core 11:115:201 Contemporary Issues in Biochemistry (new course)2 (2) 11:115:403/404 General Biochemistry I and II (4,3) 11:115:413/414 Experimental Biochemistry I and II (3,3) 11:115:409 Principles of Biophysical Chemistry (3) or 01:160: 342 Physical Chemistry: Biochemical Systems (3) or equivalent (Note: at present 160:342 requires 01:640:251 Multivariable Calculus (4)). 11:115:406 Problem Solving in Biochemistry (2 cr.) 1 Pre-medical students should be aware that two semesters of Physics lab are required for medical school admission. Extended General Physics and Physics for the Sciences contain the lab; General Physics does not, so pre-medical students will have to include the labs in their programs.

2 Normally taken in the sophomore year. Transfer students entering in the fall of the junior year will take it in the fall of that year. Among other matters included in it, this class will satisfy the ethics requirement for Biochemistry majors.

IV. Quantitative Methods 01:640:151/152 Calculus for Math and Physical Sciences I and II (4, 4)

V. Research Experience The curriculum is designed to provide students with the basics of laboratory experimentation followed by independent research experience in a research lab. A minimum of two semesters of research is required. With approval of the Undergraduate Program Director, Cooperative Education may be accepted to meet this requirement. Biochemical Communications provides the opportunity for students to present their own research, in both written and oral formats, as well as research from the biochemical literature.

11:115:493/494 Research Problems in Biochemistry (6 cr.). May be replaced by 11:015:497/ 498 George H. Cook Honors Research (6-12 cr) 11:115:491 Biochemical Communications (3 cr)

VI. Options: Requires four classes from the specific lists below. Biochemistry electives, including Option requirements, must equal at least 12 credits; at least one course with a laboratory (indicated by an *).

The bold faced course(s) in each option is(are) required.

Biochemistry of Microbial Systems 11:680:390 General Microbiology (4) 11:680:394 Applied Microbiology (4) 01:447:498 Bacterial Physiology (3) 11:126:486 Analytical Methods in Microbiology (3) 11:126:407 Comparative Virology (3) 01:146:474 Immunology (3) 01:146:475 Laboratory in Immunology (1) 11:680:480 Microbial Genetics and Genomics (3)

Biochemical Toxicology 11:115:422 Biochemical Mechanisms of Toxicology (3) 11:067:450 Endocrinology (3) 11:115:434 Molecular Toxicology (1.5) 11:115:436 Molecular Toxicology Laboratory (2.5)* 11:115:421 Biochemistry of Cancer (3) 01:146:356 Systems Physiology (3) 01:146:357 Systems Physiology Laboratory (1)* 01:146:474 Immunology (3) 01:146:475 Laboratory in Immunology (1)* 30:718:304 Pathophysiology (3) 30:718:405 Pharmacology I (2) 30:718:406 Pharmacology II (2)

Biochemistry of Plant Systems 16:765:520 Plant Biochemistry and Metabolism (3) 11:776:382 Plant Physiology (4) 11:770:301 General Plant Pathology (3) 11:770:311 General Plant Pathology Laboratory (1) 11:776:242 Plant Science (3) 11:776:305 Plant Genetics (4) 11:776:312 Medicinal Plants (3) 11:776:403 Plant Science Techniques (3) 11:776:452 Plant Tissue Culture (3)

Protein and Structural Biochemistry 01:640:251 Calculus III (4) 11:115:412 Proteins and Enzymes (3) 11:115:428 Homology Modeling of Protein Three Dimensional Structure (3) 11:115:452 Biochemical Separations (3) 01:694:412 Proteomics and Functional Genomics (3) 01:694:413 Chromatin and Epigenomics: the science of chromatin modifications in development and disease (3)

General Option 11:126:481 Molecular Genetics (3) 11:115:412 Proteins and Enzymes (3) OR 11:115:452 Biochemical Separations (3) Two additional courses chosen from the options above with no more than one from any single option with one exception: 11:115:434 Molecular Toxicology (1.5) and 11:115:436 Molecular Toxicology Laboratory (2.5) shall be considered as a single course for this option.

Rutgers Degree Navigator

Read more:
Major In Biochemistry | Undergraduate Program | Department ...

Biochemistry – Wake Forest School of Medicine

Posted on by

The Department of Biochemistry

Welcome to the Department of Biochemistry, Wake Forest School of Medicine. The Department has a three-fold mission:

Wake Forest Biotech Place, location of many of the laboratories in the Department of Biochemistry and the Center for Structural Biology

The research interests of the facultyare focused in four inter-related areas:

The training mission of the Department is focused on four types of trainees:

The Hanes and NRC Buildings, location of many of the laboratories in the Department of Biochemistry, the Center for Diabetes Research, and the Center for Human Genomics and Personalized Medicine Research.

The Departments principal interdisciplinary collaborations are promoted through participation in the following Centers:

The Department has a well-developed system of shared facilities to promote research. The research space occupied by members of the Department is located in the Hanes-Nutrition Research Center (NRC) complex on the Medical Center campus and in the recently developed Wake Forest Biotech Place in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter in downtown Winston-Salem. Travel between the Medical Center, Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, and the Wake Forest University Reynolda campus is facilitated by Medical Center van service.

Contact Information

Douglas S. Lyles, Ph.D. Professor and Chair dlyles@wakehealth.edu(336) 716-4237 (Medical Center) (336) 713-1280 (Biotech Place)

April Campbell Business Administrator apcampbe@wakehealth.edu(336) 716-4381 (Biotech Place)

Misty Allen mkallen@wakehealth.edu(336) 716-6775 (Biotech Place)

Connie McArthur mcarthur@wakehealth.edu(336) 716-4689 (Medical Center)

Read more here:
Biochemistry - Wake Forest School of Medicine