Study Guide

Objectives (course unit)

The aim of the course is to learn the basics of biochemistry and cell biology.

After completion of the course the student:
• describes the essential features of cell structure and cell organelles and define their function
• defines the structure, characteristics and function of different biomolecules
• can explain the principle of genetic information transfer and knows what happens in its reactions
• describes the basics of enzyme catalysis and the importance of enzymes for vital functions
• can explain the principles of cell metabolism, and knows the key metabolic pathways and their significance for cell function
• can explain the principles of cell cycle, cell division, growth, differentiation, cell death and signaling

Content (course unit)

• Cell structure
• Biomolecules and the most important biochemical compounds
• Reactions of the genetic information transfer
• Enzyme catalysis
• Essential metabolism (mainly energy metabolism)
• Cell cycle, cell division, growth, differentiation, cell death and signalling

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2) (course unit)

The student can recognise the most important cell structures and knows their function. The student is able to name groups of biochemical compounds and knows their basic structure and most important functions in the cell. The student knows the principle of the transfer of genetic information and can explain the different reactions at a basic level. The student knows the basic principles of enzyme function and cellular metabolism and can name the most important metabolic pathways. At a basic level, the student can describe the function of a cell, and knows the basics of the cell cycle, cell division, cell growth and differentiation, cell death and signalling.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4) (course unit)

The student can describe the most important cell structures and explain their functions. The student can name and describe groups of biochemical compounds and explain their basic structure and most important functions in the cell. The student can explain the principle of the transfer of genetic information and explain what happens in the different reactions of the transfer. The student can describe the mechanism of function and significance of enzymes. The student can explain the principles of metabolism and knows the most important reaction pathways. The student can describe the function of a cell, and can explain the principles of the cell cycle, cell division, cell growth and differentiation, cell death and signalling. The student has developed an overall picture of how the cell works.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5) (course unit)

The student can explain in detail the structure of the cell, cell organelles and their functions. The student can name and describe groups of biochemical compounds and explain their structure and functions in a versatile manner. The student can explain the importance of biomolecules to vital functions. The student can explain the principle of genetic information transfer and can describe its reactions in detail. The student can explain the working mechanism of enzymes, their significance, and knows the basic principles of enzyme regulation. The student can explain the principles of metabolism, knows the most important reaction pathways and understands how they interact with each other. The student can describe the function of a cell, and explain the mechanisms of the cell cycle, cell division, cell growth and differentiation, cell death and signalling in a versatile way. The student has a good overall picture of how the cell works.

Exam schedules

The course includes 3 exams.
Timetable: exam 1 xx.xx.2024, exam 2 xx.xx.2025, exam 3 xx.xx.2025.
Re-exams in Exam-system by the end of 4th period. The schedule will be set during the course.

Assessment methods and criteria

Exams (3 in total). The exams are graded 0-5.
Re-exams are arranged in Exam.

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

Lectures
Assignments
Exams

Learning materials

Lecture material
Heino, Jyrki, Vuento, Matti: Biokemia ja solubiologia. Ellibs. 2020.
Older edition (2019) can also be used.

Student workload

About 50 h lessons, 83 h independent work.

Content scheduling

Part 1 (1st exam): proteins, lipids, nucleic acids. Genetic information flow.
Part 2: carbohydrates, enzymes and cell metabolism.
Part 3: cell structure, organelles and their functions, cell cycle, cell division, cell death, cell differentiation and cell signalling.

Completion alternatives

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Practical training and working life cooperation

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International connections

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