Learning objectives
The module of Biochemistry 1 is part of the integrated ‘Veterinary Biochemistry’ course. The main objective of the course is to provide the student with the fundamentals of basic biochemistry, starting from the study of biomolecules. The course first examines the simplest biological compounds, such as carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids, before moving to macromolecular structures and in particular proteins, which are studied through their structure/function relationship. Folding and misfolding are aspects that are highlighted, as they have relevance to understand several degenerative diseases in the field of Veterinary Medicine (prion diseases and amyloidosis). In order to present to the students the great heterogeneity and complexity that characterizes the chemistry of living organisms, the study of polypeptides is focused on the following four categories of proteins: fibrous proteins (keratin, collagen, fibroin), carrier proteins (myoglobin and hemoglobin), membrane proteins and enzymes. Particular emphasis is given to the study of enzymatic catalysis, which represents the basis of metabolism, that will be the main subject of the Biochemistry 2 module.
The student by the end of the course should:
1. have acquire knowledge of the different biological molecules and their properties, in order to understand the great structural and functional complexity of living organisms.
2. show autonomy of judgment, demonstrating the comprehension of the subjects of the course, as well as the ability to integrate them with each other.
3. demonstrate to be able to communicate clearly what he studied, using the appropriate language of the subject. The student must be able to expose the learned contents in a logical and appropriate manner to the interlocutors.
4. to connect the knowledges learned in the present module with those acquired in the other courses, developing skills to apply what has been learned in an organic way (translating the knowledge from the molecular to the cellular, to the systemic).