BCB 103 Introductory Chemistry I Lecture and Lab:

A development of the fundamental principles of chemistry and their applications. Chemical nomenclature, stoichiometry, atomic structure, bonding theories, thermochemistry, periodic properties, solution calculations, gas laws and the properties of solids and liquids are among the topics discussed. At the end of this course students will have idea about thermodynamics, where they will learn the first law of thermodynamics and all of the terminology associated with it, thermochemistry (including exothermic and endothermic reactions). Experiments for the lab component are tabulated below:

Session Experiment
1 Preparing Solutions 1
2 Flame Tests
3 Tests for Cations
4 Tests for Anions
5 Qualitative Analysis of White Salts
6 Preparing Solutions 2
7 Titration of sodium hydroxide with oxalic acid using phenolphthalein as indicator
8 Titration of hydrochloric acid with sodium carbonate using methyl orange as indicator
9 Titration of potassium permanganate with oxalic acid
10 Determination of the pH-Neutralization curves of a weak acid by a strong base

Prerequisites: none

Recommended Books:

Pauling, L. 1988. General Chemistry (3rd Edition), Dover Publications

Ebbing, DD and Gammon, SD. 2007. General Chemistry (9th Edition). Cengage Learning Publishers

BCB 104 Introductory Chemistry II Lecture and Lab:

A continuation of the study of the principles of chemistry and their applications. The topics include solution properties, acids and bases, ionic equations, oxidation-reduction, equilibrium, kinetics, descriptive chemistry of the elements, nuclear chemistry and an introduction to organic chemistry. At the end of course students will have idea about the second law of thermodynamics. The second part of emphasis will be chemical equilibrium, where they will learn the basic nature of, chemical kinetics, acids and bases, properties of liquids and lastly spectrophotometry. Experiments for the lab component are tabulated below:

Session Experiment
1 Effect of Temperature on the Rate of Reaction
2 Study of the Rate of a Chemical Reaction
3 Determination of the Energy Changes in a Chemical Reaction
4, 5   Determination of the Concentration of a Chemical Species by conversion into a coloured compound and colour matching with Standard Solutions
6, 7 Determination of Distribution Coefficient of a substances in two immiscible solvents
8, 9 Preparation of an acidic and a basic buffer
10, 11 Preparation and purification of a solid
12 Determination of the Acid Dissociation Constant of an Acid by pH Titration Method

Prerequisites: BCB 103

Recommended Books:

Pauling, L. 1988. General Chemistry (3rd Edition), Dover Publications

Ebbing, DD and Gammon, SD 2007. General Chemistry (9th Edition). Cengage Learning Publishers

BCB 201 Organic Chemistry I Lecture and Lab:

A first semester course will discuss the chemistry of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons and their derivatives, their syntheses, nomenclature, reactions, mechanisms, stereochemistry and uses. A number of topics will be covered that include the physico-chemical parameters of biomolecules, nature of bonding in organic molecules, reaction intermediates, reaction mechanisms (including their structure and reactivity), aliphatic nuclephillic substitution, aromatic nucleophillic substitution. Experiments for the lab component are tabulated below:

Session Experiment
1 Simple Distillation
2 Distillation of two liquids
3, 4 Fractional Distillation
5 Melting Point Analysis
6, 7 Recrystallization of Solid: Napthalene
8, 9 Extraction
10 Identification of Aldehydes and Ketones
11 Identification of the Alcohol Group
12 Identification of Carboxylic Acid Group and distinguishing it with Phenolic Group

Prerequisites: BCB 103

Recommended Books:

Wade, LG. 2009. Organic Chemistry. Prentice Hall Publications

McMurry, J. 2008. Organic Chemistry. Thomson Brooks/Cole Publishers

BCB 202 Organic Chemistry II Lecture and Lab:

A continuation of Organic Chemistry I; discusses spectroscopic, chemical and physical properties and uses of organic compounds; emphasizes aromatics, aldehydes, ketones, acids, amines and derivatives; touches on carbohydrates, amino acids and proteins. A number of topics will be covered that include organic synthetic techniques involved in drug research, stereochemistry and stereoisomerism, properties of alcohols, ethers, epoxides, and diols, dienes, aromaticity, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and their derivatives, nitro-compounds and amines, phenols and heterocyclic compounds.

Session Experiment
1 Spectrometry and Preparation of Standard Curve
2 Spectroscopic Identification of Caffeine from Supplied Samples
3 Color tests of biomolecules
4 Estimation of Protein Content of Food Sample
5 Quantitative Analysis of Carbohydrate from Food Samples
6 Estimation of Acetic Acid from Vinegar
7 Thin Layer Chromatography
8 Column Chromatography
9 Paper Chromatography
10, 11 Synthesis of Aspirin
12, 13 Synthesis of Soap

Prerequisites: BCB 201

Recommended Books:

Wade, LG. 2009. Organic Chemistry. Prentice Hall Publications

McMurry, J. 2008. Organic Chemistry. Thomson Brooks/Cole Publishers

BCB 203 Cell Biology:

Structural and functional aspects of cells are discussed with a central focus on eukaryotic cells Topics include the assembly, maintenance, and composition of membranes; the mitochondria and its involvement in cellular processes such as apoptosis and autophagy; ribosome assembly and function; the cytoskeleton and its roles in cell division, motility, and intracellular transport;  cell signaling pathways; cell division; stem cells and cell differentiation and development; pigmentation; and experimental techniques in cell biology.

Prerequisites: BIO 102

Recommended Books:

Karp, G. 2007. Cell and Molecular Biology: Concepts and Experiments (4th Edition), Wiley Publishers

Harden, J. 2011. Becker’s World of the Cell (8th Edition). Benjamin Cummings Publishers

Alberts, B 2008 Molecular Biology of the Cell (5th Edition)

BCB 204 Molecular Genetics:

This course focuses on fundamental genetic processes in bacteria, bacteriophages, fungi, and animal viruses. Topics include the nature of mutations and mechanisms of mutagenesis, genetic complementation, recombination, transposition, transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation, yeast and other fungi as tools for eukaryotic molecular biology, human genetic analysis, through linkage mapping and linkage disequilibrium, and genetic mechanisms in bacterial and mammalian viruses.

Prerequisites: BIO 102

Recommended Books:

Griffiths, AJF, Miller, JH, Suzuki, DT, Lewontin RC and Gelbart, WM. 2000. An Introduction to Genetic Analysis (7th Edition). W.H. Freeman Publishers

Miesfeld R. 1999. Applied Molecular Genetics. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Publishers

D. Peter Snustad and Michael J. Simmons ,Principles of Genetics (6th Edition)

BCB 205 Metabolism:

This course entails an introduction to basic biochemistry, including the structure and functions of biomolecules, namely proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids. The course will then introduce metabolism, with a focus on the metabolic pathways that lead to the synthesis and breakdown of the biomolecules.

Mandatory prerequisites: BIO 102, BCB 203

Recommended Books:

Berg, JM, Tymoczko, JL, and Stryer L. 2007. Biochemistry. W.H. Freeman Publications

Alberts, B. 2008. Molecular Biology of the Cell (5th Edition). Garland Science Publication

Nelson, DL and Cox, MM. 2008. Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry (5th Edition). W.H. Freeman Publications

Donald Voet, Charlotte W. Pratt, and Judith G. Voet, Principals of Biochemistry (4th edition)

Thomas M. Devlin ,Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correlations (7th edition)

BCB 206 Molecular Biology:

This course will describe nucleic acid chemistry and function, DNA as hereditary material, and the central dogma in genetics as well as prokaryotic and eukaryotic replication, transcription, RNA processing, control of gene expression by methylation, translation, cell cycle, oncogenes and tumor suppressors, viral vectors, and gene therapy. The course will have a detailed focus on molecular regulation by means of promoters, enhancers, and transcription factors.

Prerequisites: BIO 102, BCB 205

Recommended Books:

Berg, JM, Tymoczko, JL, and Stryer L. 2007. Biochemistry. W.H. Freeman Publications

Alberts, B. 2008. Molecular Biology of the Cell (5th Edition). Garland Science Publications

D. Peter Snustad and Michael J. Simmons ,Principles of Genetics (6th Edition)

BCB 207 Biochemical Techniques Laboratory:

Introduction to modern experimental methodology and instrumentation in biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology, including cell culture; spectrophotometry; microscopy; protein assays; enzyme purification; electrophysiology; immunological assays such as Western Blot and ELISA. Experiments are tabulated below:

Session Experiment
1 Determination of blood group
2 Estimation of blood glucose and blood cholesterol by enzymatic method
3 CRP test for identification of C-reactive protein  
4 Widal test for identification of Salmonella antigens  
5 DAPI Staining and fluorescence microscopy
6 Giemsa staining of blood cells
7 Gram staining and the Hanging drop preparation
8, 9 Biochemical tests of bacteria
10 Determining protein sequence from mass spectrometry data
11 Protein characterization using UV-vis spectroscopy
12, 13 Bacterial transformation and demonstration of DNA as genetic material
14, 15 The plaque assay and determination of lysis time and burst size
16, 17 ELISA
18, 19 SDS PAGE
20, 21 Western Blot
22 Immunohistochemistry
23 Kinetics of lactate dehydrogenase
24 Inhibition of lactate dehydrogenase

Prerequisites: BCB 202, BCB 204, BCB 205

Recommended Books:

Nigam, A and Ayyagari, A. 2008. Lab Manual in Biochemistry, Immunology, and Biotechnology. McGraw Hill Education Publications

Boyer, RF. 2011. Biochemistry Laboratory: Modern Theory and Techniques (2nd Edition). Prentice Hall Publications

BCB 301 Immunology:

Biology of the immune system; Topics include intrinsic immunity such as chemical barriers to infection and intracellular restriction factors, nutritional immunity, complement, pattern recognition receptors include TLRs and cytoplasmic nucleic acid sensors, the interferon response, antigen presentation, MHC structure and function, the development and activation of B and T cells including somatic (or VDJ) recombination, clonal selection, somatic hypermutation, and class-switching, hypersensitivities and allergies, autoimmunity, tumor and tissue rejection, immunopathologies, and immune evasion by pathogens.

Prerequisites: BCB 102, BCB 203

Recommended Books:

Goldsby, RA, Kindt, TJ, Osborne, BA and Kuby J. 2003. Immunology (5th Edition). W.H. Freeman Publishers

Roitt, I, Male D, Brostoff, J. 1996. Immunology (4th Edition). Mosby-Year Book Publications

BCB 302 Enzymology:

Designed to give students an understanding of the physical, chemical and kinetic properties of enzymes. Purification, characterization, and quantitative evaluation of the influence of parameters such as concentrations of substrate and enzyme, pH, temperature, and inhibitors on activity are stressed. Specificity and mechanism of action of enzymes are described by considering examples selected from among enzymes of importance to food science, nutrition, and the biological sciences.

This course will build an understanding on the properties, catalysis, specificity and regulation and classification of enzymes along with the concept of cofactors, coenzymes and vitamins. The primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of enzymes along with its folding domains and idea on molecular chaperons will be discussed. The student will be aware of the catalysis and enzyme mechanism which involves understanding on active site, substrate binding, general acid-base catalysis, non-protein catalysis and metal ions. The kinetics of enzyme catalysed reactions will be studied with an understanding on key terms like catalytic activity, enzyme kinetics, Michaelis-Menten kinetics, turnover number, Km, Vmax; and influences of pH, temperature, chemical agents on enzyme activity. Different types of enzyme inhibition- competitive, non-competitive and un-competitive; deactivation models and strategies for enzyme stabilization.

Prerequisites: BCB 205

Recommended Books:

Price, NC and Stevens, L. 1999. Fundamentals of Enzymology: The Cell and Molecular Biology of Catalytic Proteins (3rd Edition). Oxford University Press, USA

Nord, FF. 2007. Advances in Enzymology and Related Areas of Molecular Biology. John Wiley and Sons

Donald Voet, Charlotte W. Pratt, and Judith G. Voet, Principals of Biochemistry (4th edition) Thomas M. Devlin ,Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correlations (7th edition)

BCB 303 Experimental Design, Research Methods and Biostatistics:

Biostatistical concepts necessary for the interpretation, evaluation, and communication of biomedical research are introduced. Course topics include biomedical study design, randomization, graphical data displays, control of bias, variability, confounding, interaction, and ethics of human experimentation.

Prerequisites: MAT 211, BCB 205

Recommended Books:

Zolman, JF. 1993. Biostatistics: Experimental Design and Statistical Inference (1st Edition). Oxford University Press, USA

Zar, JH. 1998. Biostatistical Analysis (4th Edition). Prentice Hall Publishers

BCB 304 Recombinant DNA Technology:

This course will teach the student the preparation of total cell DNA, preparation of plasmid DNA, preparation of bacteriophage DNA. The techniques of molecular genetics like production of recombinant DNA in vitro; amplification of recombinant DNA in cloning vector; construction and screening of DNA libraries; molecular analysis of DNA, RNA and protein by blotting techniques; amplification of DNA by PCR etc will be included. The course will discuss about the different restriction endonucleases and other nucleases, ligases, polymerases, DNA modifying enzymes, topoisomerases along with different cloning vectors- plasmids (pBR322, pUC 119), cosmids, bacteriophage M 13, yeast episomal plasmid etc. The students will also learn about ligation systems (blunt end ligation, sticky end ligation, sticky ends to blunt ends, homopolymer tailing etc); transformation of bacterial cells and selection of recombinants; introduction of phage DNA into bacterial cell and selection of recombinant phage; transformation of non-bacterial cells; DNA sequencing; RFPL analysis; requirement for gene expression; expression vectors; regulation of gene expression and others.

Prerequisites: BCB 204, BCB 205

Recommended Books:

Alberts, B. 2008. Molecular Biology of the Cell (5th Edition). Garland Science Publications

Nicholl, DST. 2002. An Introduction to Genetic Engineering (2nd Edition). Cambridge University Press

Nair, AJ. 2008. An Introduction to Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. Jones and Bartlett Publishers

BCB 305 Molecular Biology Laboratory:

Introduction to the various tools of molecular biology including all the basic methods of molecular biology: cloning, PCR, Southern (DNA) blotting, DNA sequencing, oligo-directed mutagenesis, and protein expression.

Session Experiment
1 Preparation of TE, TBE, CTAB, DTAB Buffer.
2 Preparation of extraction, lysis and phosphate buffer.
3 Isolation of Human Genomic DNA from Whole Blood.
4 Spectrophotometric Analysis of DNA.
5 Polymerase chain reaction to identify human DNA Polymorphism
6 In Silico Primer Designing.
7 RNA Isolation.
8 Reverse Transcription PCR.
9 Isolation of Plant chloroplast DNA.
10 Restriction Digestion of ctDNA
11 In silico restriction digestion
12 Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
13 Real Time PCR to identify polymorphism in ctDNA (sample from experiment 10)
14 Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis of PCR Product
15, 16 Restriction digestion and ligation of plasmid
17, 18 Southern Blotting
19, 20 G-Banding of chromosome.
21, 22 Random mutagenesis by EMS and forward genetics
23, 24 Gene expression analysis using qRT-PCR

Prerequisites: BCB 204, BCB 205, BCB 207

Recommended Books:

Sambrook, J and Russell, D. 2001. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual (3rd Edition). CSH Press

Surzycki, S. 2003. Human Molecular Biology Laboratory Manual. Wiley-Blackwell Publications

BCB 306 Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics:

This course will introduce the student to the scope and content of the field of bioinformatics, including core concepts in biological and information sciences, and their fusion for biology information processing. Topics include multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetics and systematics, selection analysis, microarray and RNA-seq data analysis, epitope prediction, genome annotation, and an introduction to the programming languages R and Python (with a focus on the Bioinformatics toolsets Bioconductor and Biopython, respectively). Upon completion of this course, a student will understand the relation of bioinformatics for information engineering with biosciences, particularly molecular biology and genetics, and areas of biotechnology, genomics and proteomics.

Prerequisites: BCB 303, BCB 304, BCB 205

Recommended Books:

Campbell, AM and Heyer, LJ. 2002. Discovering Genomics, Proteomics, and Bioinformatics. Benjamin Cummings Publishers

Pevsner, J. 2009. Bioinformatics and Functional Genomes (2nd Edition). Wiley-Blackwell Publishers Lesk, AM. 2002. Introduction to Bioinformatics. Oxford University Press, USA

BCB 307 Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering: Concepts and Applications

This course addresses the basic principles, concepts and techniques of biotechnology necessary for an understanding of the field, and effective work in a pharmaceutical, biotechnological and/or research laboratory setting(s). Topics include commercial application, animal cell culture, transgenic organisms, fermentation, production of recombinant proteins, novel diagnostics, high throughput screening, and environmental biosensors. Students will also learn about the basic principles of the bioscience manufacturing industry and large-scale process development, and think toward the future of the bioscience industry. Furthermore, Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs), and the nature and delivery system of products will also be discussed. Lastly, pharmaceutical applications such as recombinant protein drugs, monoclonal antibodies for therapeutics, vaccines, antimicrobial and antiparasitic drugs, and anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic drugs will be considered.

Prerequisites: BCB 204, BCB 302, BCB 304

Recommended Books:

Barnum, SR. 2004. Biotechnology: An Introduction (2nd Edition). Brooks Cole Publishers

Waites, MJ, Morgan, NL, Rockey, JS and Higton, G. 2001. Industrial Biotechnology: an Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell Publishers

Daan Crommelin,‎ Robert Sindelar,‎ Bernd Meibohm. 2007. Pharmaceutical Biotechnology: Fundamentals and Applications (3rd Edition).CRC Press

BCB 308 Endocrinology

Physiology and biochemistry of the endocrine system and its hormones with special reference to vertebrates and to human endocrine disorders. Topics include osmotic regulation, thyroid hormones, the regulation of growth and development, blood sugar regulation, sex hormones and sexual development, the interaction of hormones with other physiological systems such as the immune system, the fight-or-flight response, and neurotransmitters.

Prerequisites: BCB 206, BCB 304, BCB 302

Recommended Books:

Larsen, PR, Kronenberg, HM, Melmed, S, Polonsky, KS, Wilson, JD, Foster, DW and Kronenberg, HM. 2002. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology (10th Edition). Saunders Publishing

Greenspan, FS and Gardner, DJ. 2003. Basic and Clinical Endocrinology (7th Edition). McGraw-Hill Medical

BCB 309 Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology:

The first half of this course will focus on biochemistry that is unique to plants, focusing on topics such as photosystems, photopigments, chloroplast replication, plant stress responses, plant communication, and the biochemical bases of symbioses with rhizobia and mycorrhiza. In the second half of the course, techniques used in modern plant biotechnology and the way this technology is being used to modify and improve economically important plants and their use as biofactories will be discussed. Specific topics will include gene isolation, plant transformation, plant tissue culture, clonal plant propagation, and somatic embryogenesis.

Prerequisites: BCB 204, BCB 304

Recommended Books:

Chawla, HS. 2009. Introduction to Plant Biology (3rd Edition). Science Publishers

Stewart Jr., CN. 2008. Plant Biotechnology and Genetics: Principles, Techniques, and Applications. Wiley-Interscience Publishers

BCB 401 Readings in Biochemistry:

Intensive reading course that provides basic instruction in the critical evaluation of scientific literature. Emphasis will be on current publications in the biological sciences. This is an advanced course that uses detailed discussion of the primary literature to understand fundamental cellular processes. The focus is on dissecting research papers to gain insight into the rationale behind specific experimental approaches, understand how experiments are performed and critically analyze the data and interpretations. We will start with an introduction to critical thinking and experimental design and then probe four sequential papers from a prominent research lab that all investigate the same biological process. In this way, students gain an understanding of the creative nature of laboratory research and see how a research project develops and diversifies.

Prerequisites: BCB 303, BCB 304, BCB 209

BCB 402 Student Symposium in Biochemistry:

In this seminar course, students will present and critically analyze select, recent publications in biochemistry and molecular/cell biology. Each student will be responsible for at least one formal presentation of published work.

Prerequisites: BCB 303, BCB 304, BCB 209

BCB 403A Culture of Animal Cells: Techniques in Tissue Culture (Lab):

Theoretical and practical introduction to the methods of animal cell culture necessary for research in biomedical or biotech labs and in the pharmaceutical industry. Techniques will include choice of medium, passaging, freezing, tests of purity and viability, stable and transient transfection, and preparing primary cultures.

Prerequisites: BCB 207, BCB 305

Recommended Books:

Freshney, RI. 2000. Culture of Animal Cells: A Manual of Basic Technique (4th Edition). Wiley-Liss Publishers

Davis, JM. 2002. Basic Cell Culture (2nd Edition). Oxford University Press, USA

BCB 403B Culture of Plant Cells: Techniques in Tissue Culture (Lab):

This course provides an overview of the principles, techniques, and applications of plant tissue culture. Lectures and hands-on laboratories will cover topics including aseptic techniques, culture methodology, laboratory equipment, micropropagation, callus, embryogenesis etc. As a result of this course, students will be able to identify and apply knowledge of techniques in plant tissue culture to their research and future careers.

Prerequisites: BCB 207, BCB 305

Recommended Books:

Smith, RH. 2000. Plant Tissue Culture (2nd Edition). Academic Press

Dodds, JH, Roberts, LW and Heslop-Harrison, J. 1995. Experiments in Plant Tissue Culture (3rd Edition). Cambridge University Press

BCB 404 Molecular Microbiology:

Explores the nature and diversity of microorganisms and their implications for all of biology. The course begins with the comparative properties of eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbes, as well as their roles as disease agents, ecological agents and model systems used to understand the fundamental biological processes at the molecular level. It goes on to cover aspects microbial physiology, metabolism, genetics, ecology, and evolution.

Prerequisites: BCB 203, BCB 204, BCB 205, BCB 304

Recommended Books:

Willey, J, Sherwood, L and Woolverton, C. 2010. Prescott’s Microbiology. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Publishers

Pommerville, JC. 2010. Alcamo’s Fundamentals of Microbiology (9th Edition). Jones and Bartlett Publications

BCB 405 Virology:

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses as infectious agents and models for modern molecular biology. The course examines concepts and principles of pathogenesis, host response and the regulation of virus-host interactions. Genome organization, structure and replication will be examined within the context of the co-evolution of virus and host.

Prerequisites: BCB 203, BCB 304, BCB 209

Recommended Books:

Belshe, RB. 1990. Textbook of Human Virology (2nd Edition). Mosby-Year Book Publishers

Enquist, RW, Krug, RM, Racaniello, VR, Skalka, AM, Flint, SJ and Flint, S Jane. 1999. Principles of Virology: Molecular Biology, Pathogenesis, and Control (1st Edition). American Society Microbiology

BCB 406 Evolutionary Biology:

Advanced lectures on evolution that consider traits, genes, and their interaction with environmental variation. Topics include the basic quantitative methods required to interpret evolutionary change, the consequences of population structure, molecular approaches to phylogenetic studies, and the changes in genetic variation under different models of selection, drift, migration, and mutation.

Prerequisites: BCB 203, BCB 204, BIO 304

Recommended Books:

Futuyma, DJ. 1997. Evolutionary Biology (3rd Edition). Sinauer Associates Publishers

Elliott Sober Editor. 2006. Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Biology (3rd Edition). The MIT Press

BCB 407 Microbial Biotechnology:

This course looks into the development of microbial use in traditional fermentation processes, strain selection as well as the development of recombinant microbes for industrial, commercial, environmental, pharmaceutical and medical applications.

Prerequisites: BCB 203, BCB 204, BCB 205, BCB 304

Recommended Books:

Glazer, AN and Nikaido, H. 1995. Microbial Biotechnology: Fundamentals of Applied Microbiology (2nd Edition). W.H. Freeman and Associates

Kun, LY. 2006. Microbial Biotechnology: Principles and Applications (2nd Edition). World Scientific Publishing Company

BCB 408 The Ethics of Biological Research and Technology:

Surveys contemporary issues relating to scientific integrity and responsible conduct in research. Topics include ethical scientific conduct, scientific fraud and misconduct, authorship and peer review, use of humans and animals in biomedical research, ownership of data, intellectual property, conflict of interest, scientific record keeping, academic honor codes, and the ethics of genetic technology. The course consists of interactive lectures followed by small group discussion of cases.

Prerequisites: BCB 304, BCB 307

Recommended Books:

Bulger, RE, Heitman, E, and Reiser, SJ. 2002. The Ethical Dimensions of the Biological and Health Sciences (2nd Edition). Cambridge University Press

Shamoo, AE and Resnik, DB. 2009. Responsible Conduct of Research (2nd Edition). Oxford University Press, USA.

BCB 409 Nutrition, Metabolism and Disease:

Role of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, water, vitamins and minerals in human nutrition. The course examines the relationship of nutrition to the maintenance of health and prevention of disease. The role of nutrition in weight control, sports nutrition, eating disorders, pregnancy/lactation, and chronic disease and gene expression are discussed.

Prerequisites: BCB 206, BCB 304, BCB 302

Recommended Books:

Shils, ME, Shike, M, Ross, AC, Caballero, B and Cousins, RJ Editors . 2005. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease (10th Edition). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Publishers

Gropper, SS and Smith, JL. 2008. Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism (5th Edition). Wadsworth Publishing

BCB 410 Food Technology:

This course will introduce students to the application of biochemical principles in the production of food. Topics include food enzymes, lipid oxidation in foods and biological systems, genetically modified foods, prerequisite nutritional needs for the various types of athletic performance, the product development process from idea generation to marketing, food packaging materials, and methods of quality control.

Prerequisites: BCB206, BCB 307

Recommended Book:

Fellows, PJ. 2016. Food Processing Technology: Principles and Practice (4th Edition). Woodhead Publishing

BCB 411 Clinical Biochemistry:

Discusses biochemical principles underlying human health and disease. The course relates molecular mechanisms and the associated chemical and enzymatic alterations to normal and abnormal clinical conditions.

Prerequisites: BCB 206, BCB 207

Recommended Books:

Gaw, A, Murphy, MJ, Cowan, RA, St. J. Oreilly, D, Stewart, MJ and Shepherd, J. 2008. Clinical Biochemistry: An Illustrated Color Text (4th Edition). Churchill Livingstone Publishers

Lieberman, MA and Marks, A. 2008. Mark’s Basic Medical Biochemistry: A Clinical Approach (3rd Edition). Lippincott Williams and Wilkins

BCB 412 Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology:

Introduction to the molecular biology of neurons and neuronal functions. Topics of study will include: the molecular composition of nerve cells, and how this provides a basis for their functional properties; their synaptic connectivity; how they receive, transmit, and retain information at a molecular level. Studies will focus on current research in the field of molecular neurobiology.

Prerequisites: BCB 203, BCB 206, BCB 304

Recommended Books:

Hammond, C. 2001. Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (2nd Edition). Academic Press

Byrne, JH and Roberts, JL. 2003. From Molecules to Networks: An Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (1st Edition). Academic Press

BCB 413 Molecular Biology of Cancer:

The basic concepts of molecular biology are examined and used to probe the process by which a normal cell becomes a cancer cell. The course investigates DNA damage and repair, chemical carcinogenesis, gene cloning and manipulation, the control of gene expression in eukaryotes, tumor viruses, the roles of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in carcinogenesis, and cancer therapy.

Prerequisites: BCB 301, BCB 304

Recommended Books:

Weinberg, RA. 2006. The Biology of Cancer. Garland Science Publishers

Pecorino,L. 2008. The Molecular Biology of Cancer: Mechanisms, Targets, and Therapeutics (2nd Edition). Oxford University Press, USA

BCB 414 Developmental Biology:

The study of the processes and events involved in differentiation and development from gametogenesis through the embryonic and fetal periods. Cellular and molecular aspects of sex determination, gametogenesis, genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, telomerase as the biological clock, stem cells, cloning, the pill and cell interactions will be explored. The human is used as the primary model organism. Developmental disorders are also examined.

Prerequisites: BCB 203, BCB 204, BCB 304

Recommended Books:

Gilbert, SF. 2010. Developmental Biology (9th Edition). Sinauer Associates

Wolpert, L and Tickle, C. 2010. Principles of Development (4th Edition). Oxford University Press, USA

BCB 415 Epigenetics:

The focus is on understanding the mechanisms underlying epigenetic phenomena. Epigenetic mechanisms play important roles during normal animal development and oncogenesis. It is an area under intensive scientific investigation and the course will focus on recent advances in understanding these phenomena. In each class, students will present and discuss in detail recent papers and background material concerning each individual topic, followed by an introductory lecture on the following week’s topic. This course will emphasize critical analysis of the scientific literature and help students understand how to identify important biological problems and how to address them experimentally.

Prerequisites: BCB 204, BCB 206, BCB 304

Recommended Books:

Allis, CD, Jenuwein, T, Reinberg, D and Caparros, M. 2007. Epigenetics. Cold Spring Harbor Press

Turner, BM. 2002. Chromatin and Gene Regulation: Molecular Mechanisms in Epigenetics. Wiley-Blackwell Publishers

BIO416: Spectroscopy: Theory and Applications

This course introduces students to advanced principles in spectroscopy. Students will learn about the use of UV/Visible, Infra-red (IR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), and Mass spectroscopies to analyze aspects of atomic and molecular structure. While previous courses in the program employed spectroscopy to detect certain structures and measure the concentration of analytes, this course will explore in detail the physical principles behind each type of spectroscopic and some of the mathematics that allow us to sensibly interpret their results. Advanced applications such as determining three-dimensional structure of viruses (for NMR, especially) and high-throughput sequencing of proteins (by sophisticated forms of mass spectrometry) will be explored.

Prerequisites: BCB 103, BCB 105, BCB 202, BCB 307

Recommended Book:

Hollas, JM. 2004. Modern Spectroscopy (4th Edition). Wiley

BIO417: Natural Products

This course will introduce students to secondary metabolism in living organisms (non-protein products of enzymatic activities or metabolism) and the organic chemistry of these natural products from sources such as plants, fungi and bacteria. Students will learn about the biosynthetic origins of important classes of secondary metabolites, their biological relevance, and the biotransformations involved in their production from precursors.

Prerequisites: BCB 103, BCB 105, BCB 202, BCB 307

Recommended Book:

Dewick, PM. 2009. Medicinal Natural Products: A biosynthetic approach (3rd Edition). John Wiley & Sons

E.  BCB 450 Senior Project and Internship (3 credits):

Students must commit a semester to a senior project or an internship as part of their graduation requirements. The senior project can be a lab-based research project at the departmental laboratory or a literature review. The internship would be in an external laboratory at partner research institutions and industries.

Prerequisites: BCB 207, BCB 305