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BiochemistryOn this page: Introduction | Programs | See also: Faculty Members | Course Descriptions | Course Winter Timetable | Introduction |
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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:
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) Biochemistry Programs
Biochemistry (Science Program)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: Second Year: Third Year: Fourth Year: 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: Second Year: Third Year: Fourth Year: Bioinformatics and Computational BiologyIf 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: First Year: Second Year: Third Year: Fourth Year: |