Introduction

Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry of living organisms. Biochemists seek a molecular explanation of life by attempting to
understand its underlying principles. Biochemistry is concerned with the relevance of a molecule to an organism and the
correlations between its structure and its function.
Modern biochemistry grew out of the application of chemical techniques to biological problems and is the foundation of
biological science and medicine. In many ways it combines biology and chemistry but the subject now covers such a broad
range of activity that it is difficult to draw a neat border around biochemistry. Some of the most exciting areas of current
biochemistry research include:

* structural biology
* enzyme mechanisms
* signal transduction and regulation
* biotechnology
* molecular cell biology
* gene expression and development
* metabolic diseases
* proteomics and bioinformatics
* molecular evolution
* protein folding
* membranes and transport

The Biochemistry Specialist Program is academically oriented and designed to provide students with a fundamental
understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of the discipline. The program offers training in problem solving
specifically using a molecular approach. Biochemistry specialists will gain experience in critical thinking and the skills required
to evaluate scientific rationale. The Biochemistry Major Program offers students fundamental training in the science and gives
each student in the program the chance to combine Biochemistry with another relevant Major Program. This may be within the
Life Sciences or Basic Sciences, or may be within the arts. For example, the combination of Biochemistry with Economics or
with English could provide students with training relevant to the fields of investment within biotechnology or scientific
journalism. Students who excel within the Biochemistry Major Program may be offered the chance to enter the Specialist
Program at the third year. Frequently students who have completed a B.Sc. in the Specialist Program continue their studies in
graduate programs in Biochemistry and other Life Sciences. Graduates from either the Specialist or Major Programs may find
employment in research and teaching. Employers include universities and colleges, government laboratories, clinical
biochemistry laboratories, forensic laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, and many other
industries. Skills learned in the Biochemistry Specialist and Major Programs are also helpful in other areas such as marketing,
finance, and law. Some biochemistry graduates continue their studies in medicine, dentistry or other health related programs.

Undergraduate Coordinator: R. R. Baker, roy.baker@utoronto.ca

Enquiries: Medical Sciences Building, Room 5207 (416-978-2700)

Brenda Bradshaw (brenda.bradshaw@utoronto.ca)

Web site: www.biochemistry.utoronto.ca

Biochemistry Programs

The Biochemistry Specialist Program is a Type 3 program. Enrolment is limited and selection is based on performance in First
Year courses. Typically, students considered for entrance into the Specialist Program have a GPA greater than 3.0. Students
apply via the Faculty's Subject POSt web site. See the departmental web site at www.biochemistry.utoronto.ca for more
information.

Specialist Program:

(14 full courses or their equivalent, including at least three 400-series courses)

First Year:
BIO150Y1; CHM151Y1/(CHM138H1, CHM139H1); MAT135Y1/MAT136Y1/MAT137Y1; PHY110Y1/PHY138Y1/PHY140Y1 (PHY138Y1
recommended)

Second Year:
BCH242Y1; BIO250Y1; CHM220H1, CHM247H1/CHM249H1

Third Year:
1. BCH335H1, BCH340H1, BCH371H1; MGY311Y1
2. CHM345H1/CHM347H1
3. One full-course equivalent from the following list:
Any 300-level course(s) in BIO/BOT/CHM/ HMB/IMM/LMP/MGY/PCL/PSL/ZOO/ BIO260H1/ CHM217H1/ BCH304H1
(departmental approval required)

Fourth Year:
1. BCH471Y1
2. Four of: BCH422H1/BCH425H1/BCH426H1/BCH440H1/BCH441H1/CHM447H1/JBI428H1/MGY420H1/MGY425H1

Major Program

(8 full courses or their equivalent, including two 400-series half year courses as noted below)

The Biochemistry Major program is a Type 3 program. Only students with a GPA of 2.5 or higher will be considered for
entrance into the Major program. Enrollment is limited and selection is based upon performance in First Year courses. Students
may combine this Biochemistry Major with another suitable Major within Science, Humanities, or Social Sciences.

First Year:
BIO150Y1; CHM151Y1 (CHM138H1, CHM139H1); MAT135Y1/MAT136Y1/MAT137Y1

Second Year:
BCH210H1; BIO250Y1; CHM247H1/CHM249H1

Third Year:
1. BCH370H1
2. PSL350H1/BIO349H1*
(*NOTE: BIO349H1 has BIO260H1/HMB265H1 as prerequisite)
3. One full-course equivalent from the following list:
Any 300-level course(s) in BIO/BOT/CHM/HMB/IMM/LMP/MGY/PCL/PSL/ZOO/BIO260H1/CHM217H1/CHM220H1/BCH
304H1 (departmental approval required)

Fourth Year:
Two of: BCH422H1/BCH425H1/BCH426H1/BCH440H1/BCH441H1/BCH445H1/CHM447H1/JBI428H1* (*NOTE JBI428H1 has IMM334Y1/IMM335Y1 as prerequisite)

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

If we were to choose the single most important scientific advance of the last century, it would be iconified in the image of the
double helix of DNA and its implied duality: life propagates as pure information, which is encoded in physical molecules.
Molecular biology is an information science as much as it is a physical science. Bioinformatics devises methods to make
biological information computable - to abstract properties of molecules, cellular systems and biological organisms, to efficiently
store and retrieve the very large volumes of data that are being accumulated, to support sensitive comparisons and to mine the
data with sophisticated statistical tools. Computational biology is bioinformatics' goal: to advance our understanding of life
through computational analysis, modeling, and prediction. However, integrating the two cultures of computer science and life
science has been a challenge, and a bottleneck for progress has emerged from a lack of dually qualified researchers.
The Bioinformatics and Computational Biology specialist program is designed to provide a balance between its foundational
subjects and to cover advanced topics in both the theoretical and the life-sciences. It aims to train the generalist, who will
become creative at the intersection of two fields, rather than pursue their subspecialization. The program draws on the
University's state-of-the-art facilities across several departments, as well as being firmly embedded in a comprehensive
landscape of graduate and postgraduate research in one of the University's priority areas. Graduates of the program would
typically pursue graduate studies in any of the participating departments: Computer Science (from the biocomputing stream,
see below), Biochemistry, Botany or Zoology (from the bioanalyst stream). Important advances in the computer sciences have
been motivated by these needs and there is virtually no field in the life-sciences and in molecular medicine that does not
critically depend on insightful data analysis.

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (Science Program)

The Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Program is jointly sponsored by the Departments of Biochemistry, Botany,
Computer Science and Zoology. Enrollment is limited and selection is based on performance in the required first year courses.

Specialist program:
(16.5 full courses or their equivalent)

First Year:
MAT135Y1 / MAT137Y1 / MAT157Y1; (CSC107H1/CSC108H1, CSC148H1)/CSC150H1; CSC165H1; CHM151Y1 /
(CHM138H1, CHM139H1); BIO150Y1; writing requirement (0.5 credit, see Note 2 to Comprehensive Program in Computer
Science)

Second Year:
MAT223H1 / MAT240H1; STA247H1; STA248H1; CSC207H1; CSC236H1 / CSC240H1; BCH242Y1; BIO250Y1

Third Year:
CSC263H1 / CSC265H1; CSC321H1 / CSC343H1; CSC373H1 / CSC375H1; BCH441H1 / BIO472H1; MGY311Y1 /
(BIO260H1, BIO349H1)

Fourth Year:

Bio Analyst Stream (preparation for life-science graduate programs)
BCB410H1; BCB420H1; CSC411H1; five half credits from (BCB430Y1, BCH335H1, BCH340H1, MGY420H1, MGY425H1, MBY428H1, BCH422H1, BCH426H1, BCH440H1, MGY460H1, BIO460H1, BIO473H1, BOT421H1, BOT450H1, BOT458H1)

Bio Computing Stream (preparation for computer-science graduate programs)
BCB410H1; BCB420H1; CSC411H1; CSC336H1 / CSC350H1; one half credit from (MGY420H1, MGY425H1, MBY428H1, BCH422H1, BCH426H1, BCH440H1, MGY460H1, BIO460H1, BIO473H1, BOT421H1, BOT450H1, BOT458H1); three half credits from (BCB430Y1, CSC324H1, CSC363H1, MAT244H1, CSC310H1 CSC321H1,CSC343H1, CSC412H1, CSC456H1)