Level 100 Course Structure in Biochemistry
Year One: Semester One
BCHEM 153 – GENERAL BIOCHEMISTRY I
Stereochemistry and polarimetry. Structure, reactions and functions of molecular components of the body. Carbohydrates (monosaccharides to polysaccharides). Lipids (fatty acids, acylglycerols, waxes, complex and derived lipids, eicosanoids, lipid-soluble vitamins).
BCHEM 171 – INORGANIC CHEMISTRY I
Periodic table and building up of the periodic table. Chemistry of the groups, transition elements – general characteristics.
CHEM 153 – BASIC ORGANIC CHEMISTRY I
Molecular composition and structure of organic compounds, determination and calculation of empirical and molecular formulae, pictorial treatment of hybridization; Organic Reactions: Bond formation and fission, Classification of reagents and reactions; Reaction Intermediates: Carbocations, Free radicals, Carbanions; Hydrocarbons (Aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic), Structure and nomenclature, Homologous series, and gradation of properties, Preparation, Reactions; Petroleum Chemistry: crude oil and its fractions, petroleum cracking, octane rating, industrial Chemicals derived from cracker products.
CHEM 155 – BASIC PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY I
Introduction to Physical chemistry: Definition, Structure of Science, Classifications; Laws,
Hypotheses, Theories and Models; States of Matter I: Classification; Structure and properties of matter; Types of systems; State variables and equations of state; Thermodynamics I: The First Law, Heat Capacity, Enthalpy and Thermochemistry; Chemical Kinetics I: Elementary Chemical Kinetics, Basic Laws, Effect of Temperature and the Arrhenius equation.
BIOL 151 – CELL STRUCTURE
The basic structure of cells and macromolecules and the techniques used in their study including light and electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning probe microscopy. The historical development of cell biology. Light Microscopic Techniques. Electron Microscopy. Specialised Microscopic Techniques. Scanning Probe Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction. Cell Membrances, The Endomembrane System, Chloroplast and Mitochondria, Cytoskeleton and Cell Junctions, Extracellular Matrix, Cell Fractionation and Chemical Analysis.
BIOL 153 – INTRODUCTORY GENETICS
Introduction to Hereditary, Preformation, Epigenesis, Pangenesis and Lamarckism. Mendelism: Independent assortment, Factors which influence Mendelian ratios. Types of chromosome, Chromosome abnormalities and human disease. Meiosis and gene segregation with examples of human genetic disorders. Sex determination and s3x linked genes. Production of Genetic maps, Human genetics-pedigree analysis. Genetic Counselling
MATH 157 – ALGEBRA
Elementary set theory. Indices and logarithms. Exponential function. Trignometric functions. Sequences and series. Quadratic equations. Permutations and combinations. Binomial theorem. Matrices and determinants.
BCHEM 161 – FOUNDATION BIOCHEMISTRY PRACTICALS I
Basic experimental skills in Biochemistry and Chemistry including use of some basic equipment. Laboratory safety. Scientific report writing. Volumetric and gravimetric methods of analyses to include (Arrhenius) acid-base reactions, precipitation reactions, coordination complexes and redox reactions. Review of cations and anions and functional group analyses.
ENGL 157 – COMMUNICATION SKILLS I
Introduction to parts of speech, nouns and pronouns, verbs, and tense, adjectives and adverbs, conjugations, prepositions and interjections. Concord, the article, direct and indirect speech, the sentence, punctuation and paragraphing.
Year One: Semester Two
BCHEM 154 – GENERAL BIOCHEMISTRY II
Amino acids to proteins. Enzymes, Coenzymes. Water-soluble vitamins. Introduction to porphyrins and nucleotide bases. Basic structure and properties of nucleic acids.
BCHEM 172 – INORGANIC CHEMISTRY II
Chemical bonding. Hybridization and shapes of simple molecules. VBT, MOT etc. Introduction to coordination chemistry. Applications of inorganic ions in biological systems.
CHEM 154 – FUNCTIONAL GROUP CHEMISTRY II
Functional group chemistry (II): Nomenclature, properties, preparations and reactions of alcohols, phenols, carbonyls and amines.
CHEM 156 – BASIC PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY II
Equilibrium I: Description of Chemical equilibria, Equilibrium Constant calculations, predicting direction of equilibria, Heterogeneous equilibria. Response of equilibria to conditions: pressure, temperature and added reagents; Acids, bases and salts: Definitions of strong and weak acids and bases, pH’s, Hydrolysis of salts, Titration curves, Solubility equilibria, Ksp.; Thermodynamics II: Second and Third Laws. Entropy and Free Energy of Chemical Reactions, Heat engines, Carnot Cycle.
BIOL 164 – MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
An introduction to genetic notations, conventions and terminology. Prokaryotic chromosomal DNA: structure and function, Plasmid DNA structure, infection, replication and function. Classes of RNA: synthesis, structure, function, phylogenetic significance, mutagenesis, mutations and mutant types, notations, biochemical basis of mutants; Mutagens: spontaneous base analogue, chemical mutagen, intercalating agents, mutator genes, spontaneous types of mutations; inversion, translocation, nonsense, frame shift, deletions, insertion etc. Reversion and revertants; Transgenics: conjugation, transformation, and transduction.
MATH 158 – CALCULUS
Co-ordinate geometry. Equation of a line. Differentiation. Integration of algebraic, trignometric, logarithmic and exponential functions. Definite integrals and their applications to areas and volumes. Trapezoidal rule and Sampson’s rule. Differential equation.
BCHEM 162 – FOUNDATION BIOCHEMISTRY PRACTICALS II
Experiments on carbohydrates to include saccharides and polysaccharides, fatty acids, fats and oils, amino acids, peptides and proteins, nucleotide bases, nucleotides and polynucleotides, vitamins A and C.
ENGL 158 – COMMUNICATION SKILLS II
The communication process, skills in communication and communication in organizations, Preparing efficient documents, the dynamics of oral communication, written communication; letters and employment correspondence. Writing of technical reports, proposals, memos and writing dissertations and long essay