Chemistry and Physics of Biomolecules

3 units

This course covers three major types of biomolecular structures: proteins, nucleic acids, and membranes. Basic structural chemistry is presented as well as the biophysical techniques used to probe each type of structure. Selected topics covered include protein folding, protein design, X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, nucleic acid bending and supercoiling, nucleic acid:protein interactions, RNA folding, membrane organization, fluidity, permeability and transport, and membrane channels. The weekly discussion section will cover problem sets and present current research papers. This is one of the required courses for the biochemistry and for the molecular biophysics graduate programs. Prior course work in biochemistry and physical chemistry is recommended but not required.