BCMB20002: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

11xweekly quizzes 1% each; 2xMST 15% each; 3x assignments 3% each; exam 50%

I decided to do a review of this subject because the previous ones are quite old and the structure was changed. It used to be 3 lectures a week, but now its short videos that you can watch as you wish and 1 tutorial a week in which the lecturer goes through questions (usually PollEv style) about the module from the previous week and gives you a chance to ask questions and all that. I personally think the new version is perfect. The videos range from 10-12 per week and go from 3-12 min. The videos are extremely well made and both Terry and Heather are terrific lecturers.

The content ranges from pH and basic chemistry to protein structure, enzymes kinetics, metabolism and regulation (taught by Terry) to the more molecular side i.e. transcription, translation, laboratory techniques, etc (taught by Heather). It is quite content heavy, but its also very easy to keep up with the content, especially with the short videos.

The assessment is also very helpful in keeping you up to date. 1 short quiz every week worth 1% that helps you consolidate your learning of the week's module (and you get 3 tries so its pretty much a free 11%) plus 3 super easy assignments worth 3% each. The MSTs are fully MCQ and can be a bit tricky. Terry particularly likes to test your understanding of his content not just rote learning, but don't let that deter you, his explanations are amazing and make it very easy to study. Final Exam is 50% and is part MCQ (which is pretty much the same as MST), part SAQ which is pretty much the same sort of questions as the assignments, albeit a bit harder.

This is the subject that made me wanna major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Cannot recommend it enough. Especially if you're doing something bioscience related. Absolutely loved it. One of my favourite subjects of all time.

Yes, with/without screen capture etc.

Prof. Terry Mulhern and Prof. Heather Verkade

Yes, answers on MCQ sections

6 Out of 5

Nelson and Cox, Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, 7th edn. 2017 IS RECOMMENDED BUT NOT NEEDED

1 modules/week (11 total) ~ 10-12 short videos per module + 1 tutorial/per week

Sem 1 2020

86

2 Mid Semester tests, each worth 10%, Weekly online quizzes that sum to 10%

Although apprehensive in the first few weeks, I came to enjoy this subject.
Terry Mulhern: L1
As someone who barely scraped through Chem 2, the first lecture in which Terry introduced thermodynamics again had me scared that this subject was going to be much more 'Biochemistry' than 'Molecular Biology'. However, he explained it concisely and clearly, and didn't go into too much detail for anything. This barely featured in assessment, apart from a general knowledge (mostly logic) of how unfavourable reactions can me made to 'go'.
Paul Gooley: L2-7
Paul's lecture style was probably the least engaging in my opinion. He covered the levels of protein structure and protein evolution. However, it was fairly methodical and required more understanding than memorisation
Terry Mulhern: L9-11
Terry came back to cover Protein function and enzymes. This was probably the most confusing part of the course for me, with a few different formulas an graphs relating to enzyme kinetics and inhibition that we needed to understand and remember, but it was not weighted heavily on the exam. As this is not a calculator-based subject, there was much less focus on applying formulas and more on understanding where they were relevant.
Heather Verkade: L12-23
Heather's lectures, although much simpler than the previous content, were the worst in my opinion. Her lecture slides contained little content, and so you needed to take very detailed notes of what she was saying about them or rewatch the lecture later. Her lectures focused on DNA: Replication, Transcription, Translation, Structure and some work on receptors and cell cycle regulation. I found that for the DNA processes, I ended up finding explanations of them elsewhere on the internet to aid my notes writing, as her explanations were jumbled, confusing and often ambiguous as to what was important and what was not. She would often jump around lecture slides in a random order to explain the steps of a process, or just not include some steps altogether.
Paul Gleeson: L24-27
Paul's lectures on biological molecules and membranes were by far the simplest part of the course. Much of the content, especially on molecules, was repeated from first year and the new content was very easy to understand and apply. The part of the exam that assessed this section was basically marks in the bank - very simple and predictable.
Terry Mulhern: L28-33
Terry returned to jump into metabolism in the last few weeks of semester. This was a daunting series of lectures, in which he advised us that we would need to remember the names and be able to visually identify every compound involved in glycolysis and the Krebs cycle. It moved pretty fast, and we finished off with some lectures on hormonal control of metabolism. This was the part of the exam that I was most concerned about, but it turned out there was little to worry about. There was only one major question (a part B fill in the gaps 10 marker) that assessed this part of the course, and I was able to complete it without any memorised knowledge of the names of the enzymes etc. I found that all the MCQ that related to this part of the course only required some logic and an overall understanding of the purpose of metabolism and which parts of the body need it to function etc.

Tutorials: These were held as mini lecturers in a theatre, and were recorded. They were presented by whichever lecturer was presenting at the time, and thus varied in quality. Terry's were probably the most helpful, as he went through a lot of problems that would otherwise have been confusing.
MSTs: These were MC quizzes held in exam conditions and were quite fair. The first focused on Enzymes and proteins, and the second on Heather's Molecular biology content.
The exam: Was very, very similar to one of the past exams put up on the LMS, and thus I'm sure most people did very well (bye bye scaling). Very fair overall, with a decent distribution of marks for different parts of the course.

Yes, with screen capture etc.

Terry Mulhern, Paul Gooley, Heather Verkade, Paul Gleeson

Yes, 3 on the LMS that related to the current content, some older with mixed relevance

4/5

Lehinger's Principles of Biochemistry (7th ed reccomended, I had 6th). You must obtain this textbook, as the weekly quizzes are solely based off the readings from it.

3 x 1 hour lecture, 1 x 1 hour tutorial (recorded) a week

2018 Semester 1