<p>Has any one got an A or A- in biochemistry? I have to take this class as an engineer and I'm kind of worried. I did better in gen chem as the classes went along and aced organic and biology. Just what makes this class so hard and what's the secret to doing well?</p>
<p>I think what can make biochemistry hard for some is there is a very large descriptive component vs. learning general principles that you then apply to problems. For example, in general chemistry, you learn how to calculate redox potentials, solve gas law problems, calculate equilibria, and apply these to different situations. Biochemistry is much more focused on the details of what biochemical pathways actually exist in living systems, and problems in biochemistry will ask you to apply this information (e.g. if a specific carbon in acetyl-CoA is isotopically labeled, where would that carbon show up in various TCA cycle intermediates?)</p>
<p>No secret to doing well, but here’s some suggestions:</p>
<p>(1) Although biochemical pathways comprise a grand kludge, there a patterns in the pathways due to constraints of organic chemistry as well as the fact that pathways exist to serve specific needs of the organism. For example, whenever you see the conversion of a saturated carbon to a carbonyl, which happens in several different pathways, you can expect that this happens by a very similar set of intermediate steps that use specific co-factors. You should be looking for these patterns and use them to help organize your understanding. Also, determine the overall purpose for a specific pathway before delving into the details. Organize you study of the pathways by level of details, and always go from the top down until you can make the connections and achieve the level of detail the class expects of you. </p>
<p>(2) Find a good study guide that will help you do what I recommend in (1) above. Don’t use a study guide that just recapitulates the material in concise format; find one that talks about the patterns and interconnections and that helps you prioritize your dive into the material.</p>
<p>(3) A trick that I’ve used in many classes is: find one or two additional textbooks and read them in parallel with the one assigned for the course. I find that seeing how different authors treat the same material will often throw the key concepts into sharp relief with minimal effort. This really helps if you’re having difficulty seeing forest vs trees. For this purpose , older editions of other biochemistry textbooks will be sufficient, so you should be able to find them used for cheap or use what’s available in your library.</p>
<p>Otherwise, it’s just a matter of not getting behind and being willing to memorize what you need to memorize. If you aced organic and biology, I wouldn’t expect you to have any difficulty so long as you put in the effort.</p>
<p>I got an A in biochemistry. I liked the coursework and the topics that were covered. What I think probably makes this class more difficult than general chemistry or organic chemistry, is the detail with which the topics are covered. There are tons of steps in any of the important metabolic pathways that you will have to remember. Furthermore, some concepts may not appeal to you eg. I didn’t really care about the subtleties of photosynthesis. Also, many of the topics seem suspiciously similar to other topics covered in the course making it easy to confuse eg. gluconeogenesis is essentially a reverse form of glycolysis.</p>