Course: History of Biochemistry

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Course title History of Biochemistry
Course code KBC/HIBCU
Organizational form of instruction Lecture
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study not specified
Semester Summer
Number of ECTS credits 2
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Šebela Marek, prof. Mgr. Dr.
Course content
1. Ancient physicians. The theory of the four bodily humors and the four elements. Medicine during the Renaissance. Blood circulation, public dissections, anatomy. The development of gas chemistry. The phlogiston theory. The discovery of oxygen. Lavoisier and his contribution to chemistry. Dalton, Davy, Faraday. Discoveries associated with fermentation. 2. Medicine and the beginnings of microbiology. Vitalism and Lebenskraft. Findings from autopsies in the 19th century. Rudolf Virchow and Claude Bernard. Epidemic diseases and vaccination. Discovery of the causative agent of cholera (Robert Koch). Louis Pasteur. The problem of surgical fever. The beginnings of immunology (von Behring, Ehrlich, Mechnikov). 3. Amino acids and peptides (Edman, Hopkins, Kjeldahl, Merrifield, Sanger, Soerensen, Tuppy, du Vigneaud, Waksman). Research and the first use of insulin (Banting and Best, Paulescu, etc.). Oparin's theory. Proof of the prebiotic formation of amino acids (Urey, Miller). 4. The peptide bond (Hofmeister). Levels of protein structure (Anfinsen, Linderstroem-Lang). Secondary structure (Corey, Pauling). X-ray crystallography (Astbury, Hodgkin, Perutz). Instrumental methods for working with proteins (Folin, Svedberg, Tiselius). Sequence analysis (Sanger). The Ramachandran plot. The beginnings of structural bioinformatics of proteins. 5. Discovery of enzymes (the Buchner brothers, Traube). Preparation of crystalline enzymes (Kunitz, Northrop, Sumner). Enzyme kinetics (Michaelis and Menten, Lineweaver and Burk). Discoveries of vitamins (McCollum, Kuhn). Oxidoreductases and coenzymes (Warburg, Theorell). Enzymes of glycogen metabolism (the Coris). Proteolytic enzymes (Neurath). Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes (Kaplan). 6. Carbohydrate metabolism. Chemistry, nomenclature, and structures of carbohydrates (Emil Fischer, Haworth). Carbohydrate fermentation and nicotinamide coenzymes (Harden, von Euler-Chelpin). Glycolysis (Embden, Meyerhof, Neuberg, Parnas). Galactose metabolism (Leloir). The importance of ATP and muscle contraction (Engelhardt, Lohmann, Lundsgaard, Straub). Phosphorylation and kinases (Edwin Krebs, Edmond Fischer, Earl Sutherland). 7. Keilin and the discovery of cytochromes, cellular respiration. Discoveries concerning the processes of the citric acid cycle (Szent-Györgyi, Knoop, Hans Krebs, Ochoa). The chemiosmotic theory of ATP synthesis (Mitchell). ATP synthase and oxidative phosphorylation (Boyer, Racker). The emergence of bioenergetics (Meyerhof, Kalckar, Lipmann). Models of biological non-equilibrium systems (the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction). 8. Discovery of nucleic acids (Miescher, Kossel). Chargaff's rules. Concepts of DNA structure (Levene). The Avery-MacLeod-McCarty experiment. Discovery of the DNA double helix (Franklin, Wilkins, Watson, and Crick). Purine biosynthesis (Buchanan). DNA polymerases and RNA polymerases (Arthur Kornberg and his sons). Transfer RNA (Hoagland, Zamecnik). Discovery of the genetic code (Khorana, Nirenberg, Ochoa). Genes and their exchange (Beadle, Tatum, Lederberg). 9. Cholesterol, bile acids, steroid hormones (Bloch, Butenandt, Wieland). Beta-oxidation and fatty acid biosynthesis (Dakin, Green, Knoop, Lynen). Bioelectricity and acetylcholine (Katz, Nachmansohn). Synthetic steroids (Julian). 10. Personalities of Czech and Slovak biochemistry. Balling, Horbaczewski, Koštíř and his successors in Prague, Morávek and his successors in Brno. Clinical biochemistry (Hořejší, Šilink). Slovak biochemists (Kováč, Pecháň). The Czech Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. 11. As a bonus: the history of alchemy. Hermes Trismegistus and the Emerald Tablet. The alchemical experiment. Ancient and Arab alchemists. European alchemists in the Middle Ages. Glauber's salt. The beginnings of alchemy in the Czech lands during the Middle Ages. Alchemy at the court of Rudolf II and Renaissance noblemen. The last Prague alchemist.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture
  • Attendace - 26 hours per semester
  • Preparation for the Course Credit - 20 hours per semester
Learning outcomes
The goal is to provide students with another view to the basic themes from the lectures in biochemistry (KBC/BCH) in the context of discoverers and their personal fates.
Students will learn about the development of biochemistry in 20th century and gain information about the most significant discoveries.
Prerequisites
It is important to have the knowledge gained from successful completion of the course KBC/BCH Fundamentals of biochemistry (or KBC/UBCH Introduction to Biochemistry in the case of students of Bioinformatics).

Assessment methods and criteria
Seminar Work

To pass the course, you must submit a seminar paper (on a topic of current or historical discoveries in biochemistry, the use of AI allowed) and successfully pass a colloquium with the teacher at the end of the semester. Attendance at lectures is also a condition for completion; a maximum of two unexcused absences are tolerated.
Recommended literature
  • Elektronická encyklopedie Wikipedia.
  • Friedberg , E.C. (2016). Emperor of Enzymes: A Biography of Arthur Kornberg, Biochemist and Nobel Laureate ). Singapore.
  • Friedberg, E. C. (2014). A Biography of Paul Berg: The Recombinant DNA Controversy Revisited. Singapore.
  • Jennings, K.R., Ed. (2012). A History of European Mass Spectrometry. Chichester.
  • Lagerkvist, U. (2005). The Enigma of Ferment: From the Philosopher's Stone to the First Biochemical Nobel Prize. Singapore.
  • Loeckx, R. (2017). Cold War Triangle: How Scientists in East and West tamed HIV. Leuven.
  • Nedham, J., Ed. The Chemistry of Life. Lectures on the History of Biochemistry.
  • Nedham, J., Ed. (2008). The Chemistry of Life. Lectures on the History of Biochemistry. Cambridge.
  • Norrby, E. (2013). Nobelovy ceny za přírodní vědy. Praha.
  • Pól, J. a Volný, M., Eds. (2012). Počátky a historie československé hmotnostní spektrometrie. Praha.
  • Rao, C. N. R.; Rao, I. (2016). Lives and Times of Great Pioneers in Chemistry (Lavoisier to Sanger). Singapore.
  • Sklotoová, R. (2010). Nesmrtelný život Henrietty Lacksové. Praha.
  • Štrbáňová S. Počátky biochemických přístupů v kvasné chemii v Čechách. Dějiny věd a techniky 9.
  • Štrbáňová S. Počátky biochemie na pražské lékařské fakultě. Dějiny věd a techniky 9.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester
Faculty: Faculty of Science Study plan (Version): Bioinformatics (2021) Category: Informatics courses 2 Recommended year of study:2, Recommended semester: Summer
Faculty: Faculty of Science Study plan (Version): Teaching Training in Chemistry for Secondary Schools (2019) Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care - Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Summer