Submitted by Chris Mullins / University of Kentucky on Wed, 04/14/2010 - 21:53
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Teaching

Hi all,

I am beginning a formal push for us to develop a BS Biochemistry area/concentration, which is different than a major at my school because it would have more hours than a major and no minor requirement.

We currently have roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of our Biology majors and 1/2 to 4/5 of our Chemistry majors as aspiring pre-meds or pre-pharm, pre-vet...thus many minor in the other major and take additional coursework to prep for their desired professional school...

I am hoping to offer a Bio-inorganic/Metal Ions in Biology course next spring (2011) and would like to hear what items people feel are absolutely essential, and what can be done without in such a course. I hope to make this course available to any students who have passed Gen Chem with a C or better, but mostly for people who have completed at least a semester of Organic as well.

Please weigh in soon and I thank everyone for their contributions in advance!

Chris

Tags
course content
bioinorganic
Jared Paul / Villanova University
Hi Chris, I taught a upper level undergraduate / M.S. level course last year in bioinorganic chemistry. The two primary books I drew from were: 1. Biological Inorganic Chemistry – Structure and Reactivity, I. Bertini; H. B. Gray; E. I. Stiefel; J. S. Valentine, University Science Books, 2007. ISBN: 1-891389-43-2 2. Biochemistry, 3rd ed, D. Voet; J. Voet, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004. ISBN: 0-471-19350-x I also drew quite a lot from the chemical literature. The major focal points of my class were: 1. Metal ion binding in proteins - specifically discussing the amino acids binding to metal ions and examples 2. Metal clusters and cofactors - specifically the porphyrins and iron-sulfur clusters 3. Metal ion transport and storage - specifically ion channels, siderophores, transferrin, ferritin, and metallothionein 4. The Electron Transport Chain - specifically detailed electron transfer in all of the complexes with a major focus on cytochrome c oxidase and the oxygen reduction mechanism as well as work done by James Collman to mimic the active site. I felt like this was a major feature of the course I taught, but I am biased with my interests in energy and electron transfer. 5. Photosynthesis - specifically electron transfer and water oxidation where again, I focused a great deal on the concepts of energy and artificial photosynthesis. Once again, this topic focused on my primary interests. I know that the students definitely enjoyed the course. I made the course extremely open-ended by having each student pick a paper on some topic under the umbrella of bioinorganic chemistry and present it to the class. I'm very curious to learn how others teach their courses as well, because there are so many diverse ways a course like this can be taught. Good luck!
Thu, 04/15/2010 - 00:08 Permalink
Chris Mullins / University of Kentucky
Thanks Jared for the suggestions...I plan to explore the possibility of seeking an abridged version of Inorganic Chemistry by Shriver and Atkins or similar.
Mon, 04/19/2010 - 09:40 Permalink
Betsy Jamieson / Smith College

I've taught a junior/senior level bioinorganic elective a few times now.  The course content varies some depending on the background of the students.  The first time I taught it for example, 5 of the 6 students were chem majors who had little to no biology background.  This last time I had equal numbers of chem and biochem majors.  

I also used the Biological Inorganic Chemistry - Structure and Reactivity text.  Here's what I covered:

1.  Inorganic and Biochem basics as needed for the specific group of students - enough to get everyone on the same page.

2.  Short section on Bioinorganic Techniques

3. Metal Ion Transport, Storage, & Regulation

4. Toxic Metal Ions

5. Metals in Medicine

6. Oxygen Metabolism and a small amount of Electron Transfer

Tue, 04/20/2010 - 09:59 Permalink