Life Science

• Describe the spatial, logistic, and structural organization of the living cell as well as the overall mechanisms and chemical structures behind its function.
• Explain how enzymes catalyse chemical reactions and how the overall structure and composition of proteins determines their function.
• Interpret results showing the effect of substrate concentration, pH and temperature on enzyme activities, and give examples of how both enzyme activities and metabolic pathways are regulated.
• Explain how cells oxidize glucose and use the released energy to generate ATP, and calculate the yield of ATP from oxidation of glucose via cellular respiration as well as by breakdown by fermentation.
• Account for the antiparallel double helical structure of DNA and the chromosomal organization in pro- and eukaryotes.
• Describe the mechanisms for bacterial cell division and eukaryotic mitosis and meiosis and suggest how failures in the two later processes might lead to particular geno- or phenotypes.
• Describe the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology including replication, transcription and translation, and use the principles along with the Genetic Code to translate a DNA sequence with or without mutations to the corresponding amino acid sequence.
• Describe how gene expression is regulated in pro- and eukaryotes emphasizing the many different levels this can be achieved on.
• Categorize viruses, their life cycles, and provide examples of targets for antiviral drug development.
• Master the basal terms in Mendelian genetics and apply the principles for deducing the geno- and phenotype frequencies of the progeny of mono- and dihybride crosses.
• Set up strategies for manipulating living cells using recombinant DNA technology.
• Suggest appropriate biotechnological tests for examining a particular biological question and interpret the outcome of the tests.

The cell as basic biological unit: structure, function, metabolism, growth, reproduction, heredity and biodiversity. The theory covers: structure of amino acids and proteins, nucleotides and nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids. Enzymes: structure, reactions, inhibition. Dynamic biochemistry: cata- and anabolism together with regulation of metabolism, redox processes and energy metabolism. Synthesis of macromolecules of information: DNA and RNA, protein. Regulation of activities in the cell e.g. synthesis of macromolecules, responses to external stimuli. Mutation and mutagenesis. Genetic processes in pro- and eukaryotes. Gene technology. Examples will be given where basic biological definitions are used in present and future biotechnology and biomedicine.

Lectures and group exercises once a week during the 13 week period.