PHA-10030 - Module Specification
School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering
Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

Cell biology and biochemistry are the foundation of modern medicine and recent advances in these disciplines have provided many tools to dissect the function of a gene and understand how mutations have an impact on biological processes and diseases. This module is designed to give you a firm and detailed overview of the ¿chemistry of life¿ and to understand how this underlies the functioning of the cell at a molecular level. Lectures in the traditional and virtual format will be complemented by a series of practical sessions that will support your understanding of nucleic acids and their manipulation.

The understanding, diagnosis and treatment of disease is increasingly grounded in the molecular biosciences. This module aims to provide an introduction to biology at the molecular and cellular level, and considers what cells are, what they look like, and how they work. It will establish the principles and knowledge base of biochemistry to give students the means to build understanding of living things at the molecular level; and will convey how molecules, large and small, cooperate so that our cells are able to utilise food as fuel, to produce and respond to messengers that enable communication and coordination between different tissues.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Describe the structure and function of the key molecules of life ¿ protein and amino acids, simple carbohydrates and lipids, and nucleic acids.: 1,2,4
Recognise how the fundamental laws of thermodynamics and kinetics constrain chemical and biological reactions, and the strategies that have evolved to allow biological reactions to work within these constraints.: 1,2,4
Explain how lipids and proteins interact to form a functionalised cell membrane, and the role of such membranes in compartmentalising cell activity in organelles; in facilitating cell-cell interactions; and in harnessing the energy of electrochemical gradients to power the cell.: 1,2,4
Perform basic analysis of biochemical and cell biology data.: 1,2,3,4

Study hours

Lectures: 34 hours
Workshops: 9 hours
Laboratory sessions: 32 hours
Assessed laboratory practicals and exam: 10 hours
Independent study: 215 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment