Bioenergy

3 units

This course provides a comprehensive overview of biological energy capture and conversion, with emphasis on photosynthesis and the metabolic engineering of plants and microbes for bioenergy applications. Students will examine the flow of energy from sunlight into chemical bonds and explore how systems and synthetic biology approaches are used to redesign metabolic pathways for sustainable biomanufacturing. Topics include light reactions of photosynthesis, electron transport, carbon fixation, photorespiration, nitrogen fixation, metabolic integration, and engineering strategies for improving biological energy efficiency. The course integrates biochemical mechanisms with systems-level analysis and contemporary primary literature. (Biology Major Area A)