Biochemistry 370: Physical Biochemistry

Fall 2007

Instructors:

Christopher Berger*: HSRF 188; 6-0832;

Margaret Daugherty: Middlebury College; (802) 443-5553;

Stephen Everse: Given B418A; 6-8271;

Robert Hondal; Given B413; 6-8282;

All office hours will be by appointment.

*Dr. Berger is the course instructor. Any concerns should be brought to his attention.

Time: Aug. 28 – Oct. 19 Friday 6:00 – 8:30 pm

Oct. 23 – Dec. 6 Tuesday & Thursday 10:00 – 11:15 am

Room: Given C443

Prerequisites: BIOC 301 and 302 and CHEM 160 or 162; or permission of the course director.

Grades: will be based on take home exams handed out by each of the instructors, which will be due as specified on each take-home exam. Late work will result in a 10% penalty on that assignment. All work must be turned in by Dec. 13, 2007 to receive credit. Each exam will be weighted approximately by the number of lectures related to that topic. Thus each section of the course will count as follows towards final grades:

Thermodynamics (Daugherty) 25%

Transport Processes (Daugherty) 25%

X-ray Crystallography (Everse) 15%

NMR Spectroscopy (Hondal) 15%

Fluorescence Spectroscopy (Berger) 20%

Disclaimer on take-home exams: You are permitted to use any referenced source. Websites do not count as referenced sources. You must include the reference. You are not permitted to talk these questions over with anyone or get help from anyone. If a question is unclear --- see the appropriate faculty member for clarification. Bottom line - work independently, but take advantage of published material. You are expected to follow the UVM Honor Code as outlined at http://www.uvm.edu/~dosa/handbook/?Page=Academic.html

Recommended Text: There is no required text book for this course, although one on biophysical chemistry may be a useful reference. The instructors will assign reading from the primary literature or provide PDFs of relevant reading material as needed.

Software: Kaleidagraph, Synergy Software; www.kaleidagraph.com; 5 user license; located on Macs in 3rd Floor Life Sciences Computing Center (Given E311).

SYLLABUS – GENERAL OVERVIEW

EXAMS
August / 31 / Data Analysis/Thermodynamics / Daugherty
September / 7 / Thermodynamics / Daugherty
February / 14 / Thermodynamics / Daugherty
21 / Thermodynamics / Daugherty
28 / Thermodynamics/ Transport Processes / Daugherty
October / 5 / Transport Processes / Daugherty
12 / Transport Processes / Daugherty
19 / Transport Processes / Exam I out / Daugherty
23
25 / X-Ray Crystallography
X-Ray Crystallography / Everse
Everse
November / 30
1 / X-Ray Crystallography
X-Ray Crystallography / Exam I due / Everse
Everse
6
8 /

NMR Spectroscopy

Hondal

13
15 /

NMR Spectroscopy

Hondal

20
22 / Thanksgiving Recess
Thanksgiving Recess /
27
29 / Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Fluorescence Spectroscopy / Berger
Berger
26
28 / Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Fluorescence Spectroscopy / Berger
Berger
December / 4
6 / Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Fluorescence Spectroscopy / Exam II out / Berger
Berger
13 / Exam II due

Specific topics and reading assignments will be handed out by each instructor.