CHEMICAL BIOLOGY I

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Upper-Level

This course examines a variety of biological problems from a chemical and structural perspective. The structural and functional properties of amino acids, nucleotides, and sugars will be presented, with special emphasis on their catalytic and chemical properties required for chemical transformations within the cells. This is followed by a discussion of how to harness the power of chemistry to specifically modulate and manipulate these molecules as well as their higher-order structures, such as proteins, nucleic acids, and membranes. Topics include macromolecular structure-function relationships, nucleic acid structure and recognition, protein synthesis and folding, synthetic chemical biology, probes of cellular function, developing hybrid chemical/biologic drugs, as well as modern approaches for target discovery and validation. Graduate/Undergraduate Equivalency: CHEM 552 .