The Molecular Basis of Life
Full course description
The course ‘The Molecular Basis of Life’ relies on the students’ existing knowledge and understanding of biology and chemistry. It aims to provide insight into the structure and function of living and non-living matter. New concepts are introduced in the context of regenerative medicine and directly applied in solving problems and addressing challenges in the field. The period partly focuses on the structure and function of living tissues. The emphasis is on how cells interact with biologically relevant molecules, such as growth factors and extracellular matrix molecules, and how their interplay determines tissue development and homeostasis. The role of stem cells and their potency will be introduced in the context of these processes. Distinctions are made between several cell types and tissues (bone, cartilage) that highlight the structure-function relationship. Basic chemistry concepts are introduced in a biological context. Students are trained in applying key concepts of organic, inorganic and physical/analytical chemistry, such as stability, reactivity, functional groups, reaction/mechanism types, structure, kinetics, thermodynamics, and chemometrics to understand complex biological systems as well as to design materials for biomedical applications. The newly taught concepts are integrated in multidisciplinary cases/problems, which are discussed and worked out in small groups.
Course objectives
Upon completion of the course, the RMT student is able to:
- Elaborate how matter is built, which chemical bonds and supramolecular interactions can be present in matter as well as the molecular and physical differences between gases, liquids, solids and solutions;
- Describe the concepts of acids and bases, nucleophiles and electrophiles, the reactivity of functional groups and their most important chemical reaction types.
- Explain the interaction between cells and their extracellular environment (natural or synthetic) and cells.
- Explain the key concepts of cell biology and the corresponding biochemistry that lead to cell proliferation, differentiation, homeostasis and cell death.
- Explain the structure and functioning of proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, lipids and other biologically relevant molecules.
- Explain how tissue build-up relies on precise spatiotemporal regulation.
- Present and discuss the breakdown of tissue properties to chemical, cellular and signal composition.
- Apply the working principles of regeneration (e.g. cells, signals and scaffolds) in various cases.
- Explain the laws of thermodynamics, the principles of chemical kinetics and the differences between the thermodynamic and kinetic control of reactions, and understands and applies the very basics of chemo metrics in analytical and physical chemistry (errors, significant figures, signal to noise ratios, accuracy vs precision).
- Elaborate how the learned basic concepts of general, physical, organic and inorganic chemistry can be applied to understand biological processes and to design materials for biomedical applications with specific physico-chemical properties.