r/Biochemistry

Does anyone have an anki deck for this book?

Currently, I’m an incoming freshman pursing an undergraduate degree in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry. To get to the point, I feel unprepared.

For background information, I come from an extremely small town with my high school consisting of less than 500 people. We offer limited Dual-Enrollment classes, and we have no AP classes. I have taken every DE class available, aside from the college algebra because it was not listed as a class I needed to take in college (I did take the class, I just will not receive the college credit for it). The classes at my high school are extremely easy, our teachers did not necessarily spoon feed us the class, but it was not difficult if you did the bare minimum in class. So this is my experience with education so far, and about how challenging it has been so far.

I’ve heard time and time again that “People do this everyday”. Yet, I cannot help but feel I will get to college and crash. It’s easy to tell myself I will have the discipline to study, but what if the information is genuinely impossible for me to retain. Does it really boil down to a matter of my own work ethic? Or should I seriously consider how difficult this major will be? I am not an idiot, I have never failed a class and even though my high-school may let a dog graduate, I never thought I was behind. Any advice on my mindset or the major is appreciated. I hope at least someone else has had this case of “imposter syndrome”, and felt they were too dumb for their major.

So, I'm aware of this article from 2011 that talked about this guy named Cronin, his work on inorganic chemical cells (iCHELLs), and how far he managed to get them. The article ended with explaining that he tried to encourage the cells to develop DNA (or something similar (not RNA)), and it basically ended there. A later article from 2014 claimed that Cronin's iCHELLs did evolve after being placed in different environments, so I guess the DNA thing worked (at least it sounds like it). If anyone knows more, please let me know.

This interested me because I want to make a race of robots in my Sci-fi work-in-progress, and I don't want them to just be the typical robots we've already seen, you know? In all honesty, I haven't read/watched much Sci-fi beyond Star Wars (can you really blame me?), so if there are any Sci-fi stories that also use my idea, I'm unaware of them.

So basically, my idea is that the robot bodies are grown using in-universe iCHELLs, and then the robot's consciousness is placed inside of it.

What are your thoughts? Is there anything I appear to be missing?

I never took chemistry (astronomy and biology are my two favorite science subjects), so please bear with me.

My daughter recently changed her major from exercise science to biochemistry. She wants to go to vet school but in the event that changes or falls through, I’m curious what her options would be with a BS and possibly a masters in Biochem. She once wanted to be a PA, then shifted focus to animals but I think nothing is off the table. I’d like her to get a Masters and stay away from vet school just because of the cost but I’m staying quiet on that since it’s her decision. Any advice? Thanks!

Curious if Li+ can protonate aminoacid sidechains like H+ do. If yes: Why? If not: why not?

Thank you :)

Hello,

I am an incoming freshman at the University of Texas Austin, studying chemical engineering but planning on switching majors to biochemistry. Likewise, I plan on taking a few comp sci classes on top of my major. I would really like some advice as I plan on pursuing a phD. I would like to know how I can set myself up for success so I can have a decent pick in graduate schools and have the money to afford it. Is there a certain year in undergrad that is best for studying for the GRE? How do I manage my course load without getting burnout? Are there certain classes that look better on my transcript or ones I should avoid? What’s the best way to get to know professors?

I apologize if this is a lot of questions and I understand that it may be too soon for me to be worrying about grad school but I would like to be better prepared for undergrad than I was for high school so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Title. Thanks!

Hello! Well I am a current masters student rn, in a limbo searching up labs for starting my thesis. Its been a while since I touched my theory knowledge so its rather rusty and I want to revise your general biochemistry related questions to be in my tip top shape when I start my lab work. I want some quick resources which can help me.

Also any sort of tips on learning and planning are also helpful and much appreciated <3

So I’m about to graduate from high school and it’s kind of embarrassing to say that I was rejected from almost every summer research internship I applied to; I barely have any work experience (2 months in concessions); is it a bad position for me? I plan on doing researching in labs in immunology as a career, and I would love to hear any advice. Thanks!

Background: Im preparing a plant protein to create a coagulant and I need to determine its isoelectric point to identify the range where its surface charge is positive.

I read online that the isoelectric point can be determined by measuring the zeta potential at different pH values then plotting a graph of zeta potential vs pH and finding the intercept. What I've seen online is that adsorbents are dissolved in DI water then mixed with salt solutions at different pH values but my challenge is that my proteins are being extraction from the plants and are in solution.

What's a viable way to determine how much protein solution I should dilute with salt solution since I cant measure out how much protein I need on a mass basis? I've seen some references say that they diluted the protein solution to 1% protein and 99% salt solution, is that reasonable? Maybe I could precipitate the proteins out of solution and dissolve that in my salt solutions.

As a molecular biology BSc student, I feel like the field is lacks abstraction and conceptual difficulty compared to something like physics or chemistry.

In physics, there are numerous mathematical formulas, but the real challenge is understanding how those equations relate to real physical phenomena, rather than just remembering them.

Chemistry feels similar in a different way. While it doesn't involve complex equations to the same extent, it relies heavily on understanding quantum mechanics, atomic interactions. This is both abstract and difficult to comprehend.

Molecular biology, in contrast, often feels like it relies on simplified descriptions of everything. Probably because these simplifications are 'good enough' for practical applications and because actually applying deep understanding of molecular and sub-molecular interactions is practically impossible for large biological systems.

Examples of this include for instance all the -omics fields. But even structural biology, which is probably the lowest scale of biology-research , seems to rely on high school level chemistry and physics or perhaps a bit higher level. The only difficult thing about molbio in my experience is that there is so much to remember, so many proteins, so many interactions, etc, which isnt really mentally stimulating in the same way

Now my issue is that I find this way too boring. It simply just isnt mentally challenging enough for me. I consider myself somewhat of an overachiever. I have for instance been placed top 50% at the international biology olympiad, so I feel like I really have given molbio a chance, as any subject, bio-related or not, will of course feel simplified in the beginning.

I would love to hear the thoughts of other people in the field.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to connect with a peptide synthesis chemist in the Los Angeles area for a startup that’s ready to go. We already have equipment and clean room facilities set up, and we’re looking for someone who has hands-on experience with peptide synthesis (SPPS), purification (HPLC), and general lab workflows.

This is a great opportunity to get in early and help build something from the ground up. Open to different experience levels, but ideally someone who understands peptide production and can take ownership of the process.

I’m a first year mechanical engineering student but have gravitated toward science and medicine extremely hard in the past year and want to pivot. If I were more interested in drug development and research what does that path look like? Any insight is appreciated

Hi everyone,

I’m working with a recombinant Fab antibody and I’m trying to model its PEGylation, specifically the covalent attachment of a PEG (around 40 kDa) via a maleimide group to a cysteine residue.

I already have predicted structures of my Fab, but I’m unsure about the best approach to model the PEG conjugation and visualize where/how the PEG chain would be attached.

My main questions are:

What software would you recommend for modeling covalent attachment of PEG to a protein (especially via cysteine–maleimide chemistry)?

Are there any tools that can handle flexible polymers like PEG reasonably well?

Would docking tools (e.g., AutoDock) be appropriate here, or is molecular dynamics a better approach?

Are there any good papers or reviews on computational modeling of PEGylated proteins?

Any suggestions, workflows, or references would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance 🙂

hey guys

can anyone please help me understand what is biochemistry and what is chemical biology what is the major difference between them ? and is chemical biology as trending as biochemistry in India?

Dear all, I am looking for recommendations on peptide synthesis services. These would be fairly straightforward linear peptide 20-50 AAs, biotin or fluorophore conjugated, in mg quantities and HPLC purified to >90%. Our lab has previously used ThermoFisher with ~3-4 week turnaround. I am wondering if there are cheaper/faster options these days. We are in the USA. Thanks.

This is probably a stupid or a wierd question. But I have never worked in cell signalling field so I need to know if there is an answer for this. It is about the Notch-Delta pathway in lateral inhibition during embryo development.

I was studying to my MSc application exam using The Molecular Biology of The Cell textbook. In chapter 15, the textbook describes the molecular mechanisms behind the lateral inhibition mediated by Notch receptors and Delta ligands.

Both Notch and Delta are transmembrane proteins that interacts with each other in a contact-dependent manner between adjacents cells. They are very important, for example, in epithelial precursor cell differentiation, when it determines if they are going to differentiate in a neural cell or a epithelial cell. After their interaction, Notch receptors are cleaved by proteases in the extracellular space and inside the membrane. This means that the Notch receptors are just used once after their activation. After the last cleavage, the cytoplasmatic tail is translocated to the nucleus where it interacts with a DNA-binding protein, creating a transcription activation complex and inducing the transcription of a set of genes.

In chapter 21 in the same textbook, is also written that lateral inhibition occurs both by the adjacent cells, creating an inhibition balance between them. Therefore, cells can determine their cell type fate by breaking this balance. However, I was thinking about this mechanisms and I have a question.

Considering that Notch receptors are just used once, eventually the number of receptors decrease as the lateral inhibition occurs. I believe it is reasonable to say that the cell which loses more receptors are bound to "lose this competition" that decides which cell type will be differentiated. In contrast, early development is a set of processes occurring spacially and temporally in a highly regulated manner where a cellular mechanism can be delayed until the time is right. So my question is:

Is there a known strategy used by the cell to maintain this balance between Notch and Delta for longer periods of time or the lateral inhibition is just a "fast competition" between cells to decide their fate?

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good introductory text on steroid chemistry and metabolism? Unfortunately my university doesn't offer any dedicated courses on the subject and the textbooks for my courses generally spend a page or two at most on the subject.