Unit information: Biological Life Chemistry in 2022/23

Unit name	Biological Life Chemistry
Unit code	CHEM20011
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Crump
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	Either CHEM10010 Quantitative Chemistry I or CHEM10011 Quantitative Chemistry II CHEM10013 Building Blocks of Chemistry
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	CHEM20007 Core Concepts of Chemistry
Units you may not take alongside this one	n/a
School/department	School of Chemistry
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Unit Information

The broad scope of the course is to equip students with the necessary knowledge to begin to apply level 4 and 5 chemistry to the understanding of important concepts in the chemical and synthetic biology space. It does not seek to replicate a biochemistry degree but should provide undergraduates in chemistry with the necessary tools to explore the chemistry-biology interface unimpeded by lack of confidence or knowledge.

The specific aims are to:

1. Provide a thorough under-pinning knowledge of the structure and function of basic building blocks of life in a broad range of biological systems.
2. Understand the cross-over between laboratory-based chemistry (in vitro) and chemistry in natural systems (in vivo).
3. Illustrate how chemical and synthetic biology are exploited in biotechnology, industrial processes, and medicinal chemistry.
4. Broaden students’ horizons in terms of transformational technologies that have driven our understanding of the biological mechansims that underpin life. To introduce societal and ethical issues that pervade work in this area.
5. Continue to develop students’ abilities to formulate verbal and written arguments, analyse data, and critique the work of their peers. They will be introduced to new software and big data.

These aims will be addressed over four taught courses each with 6 lecture equivalents, supported through a series of workshops and assessed work (outlined in the ‘intended learning outcomes’ and ‘assessment sections, below).

Your learning on this unit

By the end of the unit students will be able to:

1. Explain the structure of the key chemical components of life, their function and inter-relationships.
2. Explain how these components control chemistry of the natural world and understand the commonalities and differences/limitations of equivalent chemistry in natural or synthetic systems (i.e. chemistry in water versus organic solvent).
3. Discuss fundamental biotechnology and analytical approaches that are key to investigations in the life chemistry space.
4. Apply 1 -3 to understanding modern biotechnology applications in synthetic biology, bio-design and new therapeutics.

How you will learn

In the components 2 and 3, we have deliberately used the term ‘lecture equivalents’. Chemistry units are often taught using traditional lectures delivered by one academic. As with life chemistry, this unit will diverge from that format and we will apply team teaching with no one academic delivering an entire course (minimum two). The unit will employ a blended learning approach involving a mixture of lecture, online resources, individual student-led enquiry and team-based student led enquiry.

Summary of approximate student workload:

Self-study and continuous assessment: 166 hours

Lectures/lecture equivalents: 24 hours

Tutorials/workshops: 7 x 1 hour (2 x 1 hour for courses 1-3 and 1 x 1 hour for course 4) + 1 x 2 hour (used for molecular graphics training) + 1 x 1 hour (used for setup for assessment 2)

Total: 200 hours

How you will be assessed

Assessment for this unit consists of three summative assessments, outlined below.

Summative assessment 1: (50%) An exam focussing on the ‘Chemical Components of Life 2’ and ‘Nature’s laboratory and Natural Products', ‘Technology for Life Chemistry’ and selected parts of the ‘Synthetic Biology, Bio-design and Medicinal Chemistry’ of the unit. These activities will (i) support students’ ability to understand the structure and function of the chemical components on life. This supports ILO 1. (ii) Test their basic understanding of fundamental chemical mechanisms and how Nature applies these and how they are analysed and applied. This will be applied to problems outside of routine chemistry and lends itself well to applied problem solving. This supports ILO2.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. CHEM20011).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.