Anybody good at biochem?

[buenosdiaz]

"Are you picking up what i'm throwing down"

wtf does that mean?

[jthor99]

Ahhh just a shot in the dark here, but I would assume it would mean...

"Do you understand what I'm saying"

[buenosdiaz]

lol ok close thread mods before i look stupid to the ES masses

[CallMeGreen]

I'd say it means something like "know what I mean, Vern?"

[Stophovr6]

lol ok close thread mods before i look stupid to the ES masses

Too late dummy.

[buenosdiaz]

im gonna change the name to something that will generate less feedback

[Dictator]

hey everyone come in here and see the stupidity.

[Stophovr6]

Bump for dummy

[buenosdiaz]

no nobody good at biochem? alright guess we should all let this thread die

[China]

[SkinsOrlando]

U follow me up, I follow u down, u ride my pony I dress like a clown, word

[Special K]

Lol! I clicked on this thread b/c of "biochem." in the title. I was a chem. minor and liked that class. :geek:

[SkinsOrlando]

Lol! I clicked on this thread b/c of "biochem." in the title. I was a chem. minor and liked that class. :geek:

I no longer like you, as an original bio/pre-vet major I am of the belief all things chemistry were created by satan.

[dchogs]

Lol! I clicked on this thread b/c of "biochem." in the title. I was a chem. minor and liked that class. :geek:

ha... i did too. i was a biochem major until i switched to molecular bio. saved me from taking inorganic chemistry and the associated lab.

[Buford T. Justice]

I took two semesters of biochemistry. I was also a chemistry minor. Biochem was actually chemistry, chemistry was math, physics was math, physical chemistry was math and math was math. :doh:

[Special K]

I no longer like you, as an original bio/pre-vet major I am of the belief all things chemistry were created by satan.

Does it count if I started out as a bio. major? Or, my sister is graduating this summer with a bio major? Maybe these will help regain your favor...

I took two semesters of biochemistry. I was also a chemistry minor. Biochem was actually chemistry, chemistry was math, physics was math, physical chemistry was math and math was math. :doh:

I agree with this summary, although I do think organic chemistry was chemistry....but yep, your post sums about everything else up quite nicely.

[dockeryfan]

I took two semesters of biochemistry. I was also a chemistry minor. Biochem was actually chemistry

Biochem was actually a lot of memorization.

Funny thing is they changed a very basic idea from when I took it in college.

ATP generated from one glucose molecule = 36. (Through glycolysis+krebs cycle+Electron Transport Chain)

When I learned it in college, I believe it was 38. SOmething to do with a difference between insects and humans, and they thought all eukaryotic cells were the same. I may be remembering it wrong, but it was NOT 36 when I learned it in college.

You have to learn every step in the Krebs cycle, what the enzymes are, what the products, become. It's useless. You never hold on to that information. Ask me how much I remember now? Just the basics, if that.

Come to find out that those numbers aren't even absolutes. You don't get EXACTLY the same number of ATP each time. You get an approximation, because those are only theoretical yields.

[Stophovr6]

You maroons, stop talking about biochem and start mocking Buenosdiaz!

[PeterMP]

I have a PhD in chemistry. My speciality is biochemistry. These days I do more computational biology than biochemistry.

[PeterMP]

Biochem was actually a lot of memorization.

Only if you make it that way rather than trying to really understand it. Somebody trying to memorize their way through biochemistry is in REALLY big trouble (unless they REALLY good at memorizing and don't have much else to do).

Funny thing is they changed a very basic idea from when I took it in college.

ATP generated from one glucose molecule = 36. (Through glycolysis+krebs cycle+Electron Transport Chain)

When I learned it in college, I believe it was 38. SOmething to do with a difference between insects and humans, and they thought all eukaryotic cells were the same. I may be remembering it wrong, but it was NOT 36 when I learned it in college.

Prokaryotes make ATP from glucose too.

It isn't that simple because to produce that much ATP from a molecule of glucose requires the Kreb's cycle (also known as the citric acid cycle (my perferred name) or the tricarboxylic acid cycle (frequently referred to as the TCA cycle)). However, intermediates in the TCA cycle can be siphoned off to other things, and then you have things like the malate-aspartate shuttle that consumes NADH, which is required to make ATP.

You have to learn every step in the Krebs cycle, what the enzymes are, what the products, become. It's useless. You never hold on to that information. Ask me how much I remember now? Just the basics, if that.

Like all information, how much you recall it depends on how much you use it. I can tell you every enzyme, substrate, product, and mechanism in glycolysis, citric acid cycle and most of amino acid biosynthesis.

The objective though is to get people to understand what sorts of chemical processes biological systems can catalyze and the basic biochemical approaches to such chemistry and generating energy. If you can't name a specific reaction, it isn't really significant (unless you use the info) it isn't important if you know things about redox reactions and phosphorylation reactoins in biological reactions.

I do have to ask, presumably you had organic. How much of that do you remember?

[Corcaigh]

I have a PhD in chemistry. My speciality is biochemistry. These days I do more computational biology than biochemistry.

He didn't ask you if you did it. He asked if you were any good at it.

[Special K]

Only if you make it that way rather than trying to really understand it. Somebody trying to memorize their way through biochemistry is in REALLY big trouble (unless they REALLY good at memorizing and don't have much else to do).

I do have to ask, presumably you had organic. How much of that do you remember?

I know your comment was not directed toward me, but definitely agree with you on this. The people I knew who didn't try to understand the chemical processes and mechanisms and just memorize the information ALL did poorly in chem. classes...particularly o.chem and biochem.

I don't know how much information they ultimately retained, but I suspect it wasn't much. I actually found o.chem to be my favorite chem. class and I worked hard to understand the actual processes...and because of that I've retained a lot of what I learned in that class.

[dockeryfan]

Only if you make it that way rather than trying to really understand it. Somebody trying to memorize their way through biochemistry is in REALLY big trouble (unless they REALLY good at memorizing and don't have much else to do).

Prokaryotes make ATP from glucose too.

It isn't that simple because to produce that much ATP from a molecule of glucose requires the Kreb's cycle (also known as the citric acid cycle (my perferred name) or the tricarboxylic acid cycle (frequently referred to as the TCA cycle)). However, intermediates in the TCA cycle can be siphoned off to other things, and then you have things like the malate-aspartate shuttle that consumes NADH, which is required to make ATP.

Like all information, how much you recall it depends on how much you use it. I can tell you every enzyme, substrate, product, and mechanism in glycolysis, citric acid cycle and most of amino acid biosynthesis.

The objective though is to get people to understand what sorts of chemical processes biological systems can catalyze and the basic biochemical approaches to such chemistry and generating energy. If you can't name a specific reaction, it isn't really significant (unless you use the info) it isn't important if you know things about redox reactions and phosphorylation reactoins in biological reactions.

I do have to ask, presumably you had organic. How much of that do you remember?

I did pretty well in both. Organic I thought was more engaging. Biochem I found tedious. And I believe it was the malate-aspartate shuttle that was different in insects, resulting in the difference between humans and insects. Am I remembering it wrong? The value I learned in college for total ATP from one glucose molecule was different than is taught now. This was 1987, so it's kind of ancient history.

And lol for the accusing tone. One of the first things I remember about biochem was memorizing the structures of the amino acids. How is that not memorization? You can think about Alanine as just a glycine with an extra methyl group, but it's still friggin memorization. You have to memorize all 20 structures and know which ones have sulfur, which ones were essential, which ones were acidic, etc. You have to use some of the the same stuff you would use with someone learning multiplication tables. Repetition.

And keestman, check yourself 10 years out of school. See how much you remember if you don't use it everyday. Biochem can come into play if you like nutrition, but things like the Krebs cycle? Not so much. And if you really need to because the paper you are reading is a little thick in biochem, you can always just go back to your reference book. Knowing the ins and outs is just not that important. I'm not sure you agree PeterMP.

[PeterMP]

And lol for the accusing tone. One of the first things I remember about biochem was memorizing the structures of the amino acids. How is that not memorization? You can think about Alanine as just a glycine with an extra methyl group, but it's still friggin memorization. You have to memorize all 20 structures and know which ones have sulfur, which ones were essential, which ones were acidic, etc.

Very simple the acidic ones are "ate" (e.g. glutamate and aspartate). You see "ate" in biochemistry you should think negatively charged oxygen. This is also where you if you know the organic it isn't much memorization. They are just carboxylic acids, which is a fundamental organic chemistry functional group. Where people get in trouble is that they don't know what a carboxylic acid is.

[PeterMP]

He didn't ask you if you did it. He asked if you were any good at it.

Well, let's just say I'm pretty good at it.