CHEM 323
Biological Chemistry
Winter 2026 · ENCH 323
Topics
- Biomolecules
- amino acids and peptide bonds
- protein structure and synthesis
- enzyme kinetics, inhibition and catalysis
- nucleic acids
- carbohydrates
- membranes
- cell signalling
- biosynthesis and metabolism.
Readings
- No required textbook. Required lecture slides/notes supplied through onQ; supplemental lecture recordings posted after lectures.
Winter 2023 · ENCH 323
Topics
- Learning
- Reaction mechanisms
- Synthesis
- Proteins
- Stereochemistry
- Enzymes
- Kinetics
- Catalysis
Readings
- Recommended: Biochemistry, Voet & Voet, 4th edition Note: older editions are also accepted (just make sure that there is no ambiguity on the assigned reading, either with your fellow students or with the instructor) Additional Useful Textbooks - Foundations of Chemical Biology, C.M. Dobson, J. A. Gerrard, A. J. Pratt, Oxford Chemistry Primers, Oxford University Press: this very short (92 pages) summarizes the essentials in an easy-to-read manner. This is an ebook available through the library. - Organic Chemistry, Clayden, Greeves & Warren: strong Organic Chemistry refresher Useful websites a) To read more: Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/referenceworks/9780124437104. A collection of short review articles written by experts, A wonderful complement to the textbook! b) For research: - Web of Science (Access Through Databases Tab at http://library.queensu.ca/). Very helpful for finding journal articles by topic searching and for then finding other research that is related to those articles. - National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/. For journal articles, protein sequences, DNA sequences, align protein sequences (BLAST), find protein structures and lots more - ExPASY Proteomics Server (also known as Swiss-Prot): http://ca.expasy.org/. This an annotated database dedicated to proteins, which also contains lots of useful online tools for protein sequence and structure analysis. A user-friendly protein structure viewer is available for download as well (http://ca.expasy.org/spdbv/). - Protein Data Bank: https://www.rcsb.org/.
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- Syllabus / course outline ↗Winter 2026
- Syllabus / course outline ↗Winter 2023
- Winter 2026 syllabus.