BiochemistryOn this page: Introduction | Programs | See also: Faculty Members | Course Descriptions | Course Winter Timetable | 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:
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) Biochemistry ProgramsBiochemistry (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 Facultys Subject POSt web site. See the departmental web site at www.biochemistry.utoronto.ca for more information. Specialist Program: First Year: BIO150Y1; CHM151Y1/(CHM138H1, CHM139H1); MAT135Y1/MAT136Y1/MAT137Y1; PHY110Y1/PHY138Y1/PHY140Y1 (PHY138Y1 recommended) Second Year: BCH242Y1; BIO250Y1; CHM220H1, CHM247H1/CHM249H1NOTE: BIO260H1 is a recommended preparation for MGY311Y1. 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. In order to be admitted into the program you must have taken a full course load in first year (five full courses) and the enrollment is limited. For more information, refer to the Biochemistry web site at www.biochemistry.utoronto.ca First Year: BIO150Y1; CHM151Y1 (CHM138H1, CHM139H1); MAT135Y1/MAT136Y1/MAT137Y1 Second Year: BCH210H1; BIO250Y1; CHM247H1/CHM249H1 Third Year: Fourth Year: Two of: BCH422H1/BCH425H1/BCH426H1/BCH440H1/BCH441H1/BCH445H1/CHM447H1/JBI428H1* (*NOTE JBI428H1 has IMM334Y1/IMM335Y1 as prerequisite)
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 Universitys 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 Universitys 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: 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) |