Category Archives: Biochemistry

Azin Saebi was born and raised in Iran, emigrating to the U.S. with her family at 18 after graduating from high school. Now a fifth-year graduate student in chemistry, Saebi never intended to stay permanently; she initially expected to go back to Iran to attend university. With that in mind, when leaving for the U.S., she only packed a bag with enough belongings for a couple of months and had even booked a return flight.

Her plans changed, however, as she began to recognize the opportunities available to her at American colleges, and that the best way to improve her English would be to stay in the U.S. Since she hadnt taken the SAT or completed the requirements necessary to enter a traditional four-year college, she enrolled in community college with a plan to study biology and neuroscience, before transferring to UCLA.

In community college, Saebi discovered that she loved her undergraduate chemistry courses, so she joined an inorganic chemistry lab. I really clicked more with the day-to-day lab experiments in chemistry rather than biology. It was fun and exciting how I could take material A and material B, mix them together in a controlled way and get this new molecule, she says. To her, biology seemed like more of a black box. With chemistry, I could check the progress at every step along the way.

At MIT, Saebi is working at the intersection of chemistry and biology, designing novel strategies to synthesize proteins and to conjugate proteins together. Ultimately, these strategies have potential applications as antimicrobial compounds. In addition to her academic pursuits, she has devoted her time to advocating for diversity and inclusion initiatives and ensuring that students feel supported and heard within the chemistry department.

Lighting a fire of chemistry

When she started at Saddleback Community College, Saebi first chose to pursue a degree in neuroscience, with the intention of becoming a physician a path influenced by watching Greys Anatomy, she jokes. Taking organic chemistry also sparked an interest in the interface between chemistry and biology. A biochemistry course at UCLA further cemented this passion, and she found that she excelled in the subject. It was rather obvious that among neuroscience majors, [my reaction] to the class was an uncommon one, as it was generally considered a pretty irrelevant class to our core studies, she says.

Saebi decided to double major in neuroscience and biochemistry. An inspiring professor, Alexander Spokonyny, encouraged her to join his inorganic chemistry lab. He was the person that lit this fire of chemistry in me, she says. Under his guidance, she synthesized small-molecule inhibitors to study cocaine addiction.

In the fall of senior year, Saebi knew that she wanted to pursue this research thing and that her interest in medicine had taken a back seat. She decided to enroll in UCLAs 4+1 program to complete a masters degree in biochemistry before applying to graduate programs in chemistry.

Unleashing novel proteins and inner nerds

When Saebi was admitted to MIT, she was determined to take advantage of the opportunity. Growing up in Iran, I never imagined I would have the opportunity to go to a world-renowned university such as MIT, she says. During the chemistry departments visit weekend, where admitted students are invited to come to campus, she realized that students here actually looked like me in terms of the science they loved and the activities they were involved with.

Since beginning her PhD, Saebis aim has been to transition from organic chemistry to chemical biology. Even though I enjoyed doing organic chemistry, I really wanted to pursue something with direct applications, she notes. With this in mind, she decided to affiliate jointly with the labs of professor of chemistry Bradley Pentelute, and with Stephen Buchwald, the Camille Dreyfus Professor of Chemistry. The Buchwald lab focuses more on the organic chemistry methods, while the Pentelute lab focuses on peptides and emphasizes biological applications. I really enjoyed making molecules, but I also knew that that alone would not keep me satisfied during the five years of my PhD, Saebi explains. I needed to make sure that I made something that I could apply to the biotechnology industry or to human health.

The overall theme of Saebis work is developing novel chemical tools to modify biomolecules, specifically proteins. Her research has evolved in three distinct stages. First, she investigated a novel bioconjugation strategy, a chemical technique used to couple two proteins together. Then she worked on a method of synthesizing proteins via chemical ligation of amino acids, relying on chemical techniques to join the amino acids together instead of biological protein synthesis machinery. Most recently, Saebi has been combining these two tools, bioconjugation and chemical protein synthesis, to make antimicrobial compounds that specifically target and destroy Pseudomonas, a bacteria that can lead to serious infections in hospital patients.

Outside of lab, Saebi has served as a teaching assistant for course 5.07 (Introduction to Biological Chemistry). It turned into a fun experience of helping [undergraduate] students unleash their inner nerd, Saebi notes. Given that I had really enjoyed my biochemistry classes back at UCLA, I really wanted to make sure that my students had the same experience. She had to overcome her fear that, since English is her second language, students wouldnt understand her explanations. Despite her initial hesitations, Saebi won the Department of Chemistry Outstanding Teaching Award in 2018. For her, that was the cherry on top of a rewarding teaching experience.

Sparking change for graduate students

In the past two years, Saebi has become an advocate for diversity, inclusion, and speaking up about challenges within MIT, serving as a member of the chemistry departments Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) and co-president of Women+ in Chemistry (WIC+). Over time, Saebi has realized that one of her personal strengths is communicating student needs, a skill she has leveraged in these leadership roles.

Graduate school is hard, and nothing is going to make it an easy-breezy experience because science is inherently hard. But, there are things that can make graduate school a bit easier and a more enjoyable experience. Often we have the attitude that we will just suffer through it just because others before us have suffered through it, and thats a problem she says. Saebi is not content to just suffer through it; instead, she is determined to be the spark for change.

She is most proud of the holistic review of graduate admissions practices drafted by DEIC and implemented in chemistry admissions this year. The new practices evaluate candidates based on opportunities available to them, and their potential for growth, as well as their accomplishments.

She also serves with Resources for Easing Friction and Stress in the Chemistry Department (ChemREFS), which offers students an avenue to speak confidentially about their problems and to receive support. Learning about her peers struggles has informed her role in the DEIC, she says. ChemREFS is helpful to me to ensure that I am actually representing the student body and the diversity of voices and perspectives.

As she nears graduation, Saebi has been considering her next steps. She wants to continue solving problems in human health, and she understands that it can be a challenging and lengthy process translating academic research to new treatments for patients. I want to be somewhere that I can see the impact of my work on patients lives and health care more immediately, and Im grateful that my PhD at MIT has opened so many doors for me to explore science beyond academia, she says.

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Tackling chemical synthesis and advocacy | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT News

On April 15, Dr Aqsa Shaikh, a self-proclaimed queer activist, teacher of community medicine at Jamia Hamdard and nodal officer of a COVID vaccination centre, sparked a controversy by saying that the medical curriculum in India teaches too much Anatomy and Biochemistry. Dr Aqsa also claimed heterosexual doctors should not teach about queer lives. Furthermore, she said, Instagram teaches more about sexual and gender Minorities than textbooks. Her statement attracted strong criticism on social media.

In a series of tweets, Dr Aqsa mentioned the points she had raised during a panel discussion on making Medical Curriculum queer affirmative at AIIMS. She said the fraternity should stop medicalising queer identities. Furthermore, she claimed that the Indian medicine curriculum is teaching too much of Anatomy and Biochemistry. According to her, 5.5 years were not enough to learn about health.

Dr Aqsa demanded that Medical Science should be turned into a Bachelor of Health and the students should be taught subjects of humanities with medicines. She said it is time to reverse Millers Pyramid, Empathy should be the base, not Cognitive domain. She claimed the CBME (Competency Based Medical Education) curriculum is flawed and suggested that doctors should be political.

Interestingly, she added that Heterosexual people should not teach about queer lives and demanded more marginalised communities should be brought in as teaching staff. According to Dr Aqsa, the current Transgender Act has many anti-queer laws, and it needs amendments. The education about queer should begin at the primary level and not at medical school. One of the most controversial statements she made in her tweets was that Instagram taught more about sexual and gender minorities compared to the textbooks.

Her statement has attracted sharp criticism, especially from the Medical community on Twitter. Dr Lira questioned why such discussions were even allowed by AIIMS. She said, From where is this irrational thinking seeping into #medical system? Why is AIIMS even allowing this? Medicine is pure Science unadulterated by Identity politics, religion and superstitions. One can practice medicine with basic human decency without needless affirmation.

Dr Pranay said, First, it made me laugh. Then I realised she was serious. Not just a tweet, but this was rather a panel discussion at AIIMS. Im worried now. Ridiculous is too small a term for this.

Dr Apporva Verma said, Too much anatomy? Seriously? While I get 1st point, Id like to know this persons qualification to have uttered such statement as the 2nd point.

Speaking to OpIndia, Dr Haryax Pathak said, While the issue in the hand of LGBTQ rights and awareness is a genuine one, there has to be a systematic approach towards it. It starts by educating people. The biology behind it. The history behind it. That means more Anatomy, more Biochemistry not less. Training empathy is required, but it is a slow process. Im against the claim that doctors must be political. I can have political preferences as an individual but they dont reflect in my professional life. Doctors dont differentiate or discriminate on a political basis.

He further added, Claims that Instagram teaches more than medical school are way harmful. There has to be a professional approach to medical education. Ironical that slurs of WhatsApp University are passed around while promoting Instagram education. He agreed there was a need for some legal amendments as transgenders are humans too, and they have rights equal to everybody else.

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Too much Anatomy and Biochemistry, Instagram better than textbooks on sexual and gender minorities Jamia Hamdards Dr Aqsa Shaikh wants to change...

The James Madison University Board of Visitors met Friday, April 22, 2022 in the Festival Conference and Student Center.

The following is a summary of actions taken by the board and key areas of discussion at the board meeting:

Approved the February 18, 2022 Board of Visitors meeting minutes and the personnel action report;

Accepted committee reports from the Academic Excellence, Advancement and Engagement, Athletics, Audit, Governance, Finance and Physical Development, and Student Affairs committees;

An update on the General Assembly was provided by Caitlyn Read, Director of Government Relations;

The 2022-23 proposed tuition and fees and the proposed 2022-23 budget was presented by Towana Moore, Interim Vice President of Administration and Finance;

A reaffirmation of the Universitys mission statement was presented by Brian Charette, Special Assistant to the President;

A racial equity and diversity, equity and inclusion update was provided by Deborah Tompkins Johnson;

Tim Miller, Vice President for Student Affairs led an update on COVID-19;

The Board of Visitors voted to approve the proposed 2022-23 proposed tuition and fees, the 2022-23 proposed summer tuition and fees and the proposed 2022-23 budget, pending the outcome of the state budget;

It was voted by the Board of Visitors that the University reaffirm the current mission statement;

The Board of Visitors voted for the next Rector of the Board to be Maribeth Herod, Vice Rector to be Chris Falcon and Secretary of the Board Donna Harper.

President Alger shared during his Presidents Report:

Link:
Board of Visitors summary of actions and discussions - James Madison University

Biochemistry is the branch of science that explores the chemical processes within and related to living organisms. It is a laboratory based science that brings together biology and chemistry. By using chemical knowledge and techniques, biochemists can understand and solve biological problems.

Biochemistry focuses on processes happening at a molecular level. It focuses on whats happening inside our cells, studying components like proteins, lipids and organelles. It also looks at how cells communicate with each other, for example during growth or fighting illness. Biochemists need to understand how the structure of a molecule relates to its function, allowing them to predict how molecules will interact.

Biochemistry covers a range of scientific disciplines, including genetics, microbiology, forensics, plant science and medicine. Because of its breadth, biochemistry is very important and advances in this field of science over the past 100 years have been staggering. Its a very exciting time to be part of this fascinating area of study.

To find out more about careers in biochemistry read our bookletsBiochemistry: the careers guideandNext Steps.

The life science community is a fast-paced, interactive network with global career opportunities at all levels. The Government recognizes the potential that developments in biochemistry and the life sciences have for contributing to national prosperity and for improving the quality of life of the population. Funding for research in these areas has been increasing dramatically in most countries, and the biotechnology industry is expanding rapidly.

The Biochemical Societyaims to inspire and engage people in the molecular biosciences. We offer study and careers advice toschool students,higher education studentsandteachersas well as carrying outpublic engagementevents.

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What is biochemistry? Biochemical Society

Have you ever observed how the chemical reactions or the processes occur within the human body? How do metabolic activities take place? Yes, you will get to know all these life processes through Biochemistry.

The branch of science dealing with the study of all the life processes such as control and coordination within a living organism is called Biochemistry.

This term was introduced to us by Carl Neuberg, the father of biochemistry in the year 1930. This field combines biology as well as chemistry to study the chemical structure of a living organism. The biochemists get into the investigation of the chemical reactions and combinations which are involved in various processes like reproduction, heredity, metabolism, and growth, thus performing research in different kind of laboratories.

Introduction to Biochemistry includes wide areas of molecular biology as well as cell biology. It is relevant to molecules that make up the structure of organs and cells which is the molecular anatomy. It describes carbon compound and the reactions they undergo in living organisms. It also describes molecular physiology, which is the functions of molecules in carrying out the requirements of the cells and organs.

It mainly deals with the study of the structure and functions of the biomolecules such as the carbohydrates, proteins, acids, lipids. Hence, it is also called to as Molecular biology.

The primary branches of biochemistry are listed in this subsection.

It is also referred to as the roots of Biochemistry. It deals with the study of functions of the living systems. This field of biology explains about all the interactions between the DNA, proteins, RNA and their synthesis.

Cell biology

Cell Biology deals with the structure and functions of cells in living organisms. It is also called as Cytology. Cell biology primarily focuses on the study of cells of the eukaryotic organisms, and their signalling pathways, rather focussing on to prokaryotes- the topics that will be covered under microbiology.

Metabolism

Metabolism is one of the most important processes taking place in all the living things. It is nothing but the transformations or the series of activities that happens that when food is converted into energy in a human body. One of the examples of metabolism is the process of digestion.

Genetics

Genetics is a branch of biochemistry that deals with the study of genes, their variations and the heredity characteristics in living organisms.

The other branches include Animal and Plant Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Molecular Chemistry, Genetic engineering, Endocrinology, Pharmaceuticals, Neurochemistry, Nutrition, Environmental, Photosynthesis, Toxicology, etc.

Biochemistry is essential to understand the following concepts.

To learn more about biochemistry and other important branches of chemistry, such as physical chemistry, register with BYJUS now!

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What is Biochemistry? - Definition, History, Examples, Importance ...

April 8, 2021

If science is your favorite school subject, consider a biochemistry role. This lab-based science studies why certain substances cause reactions in the cells of various living beings. There are many specialties you can pursue within this degree that can ready you for careers like biochemists, chemical engineers or professors. In this article, we review what biochemistry is, tips for becoming a biochemist and the different roles you can pursue with a biochemistry degree.

Biochemistry is the combination of chemistry, physics and biology. Biochemistry professionals study how these different elements of science affect various living beings and organisms. Many students looking to explore the chemical processes that take place within a living system typically major in biochemistry. Most of the careers you can earn in this degree vary according to your preferred responsibilities and work environment. This degree allows you to specialize in a wide variety of fields, including chemistry, biology and research.

To become a biochemist or to work in the biochemistry field, you must have impressive scientific skills, knowledge and capabilities. You can earn these qualifications by taking the proper courses and gaining relevant experience in your field. Follow these tips to become a successful biochemist:

Earn a high school diploma: You should first graduate high school with your diploma or a GED. Try to take courses like physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology to familiarize yourself with the basic scientific concepts you may later go in-depth on in your bachelor's program.

Get a bachelor's degree: Most employers require biochemistry candidates to earn at least a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, biology, chemistry or another related field.

Select elective courses: Many programs offer elective courses depending on the area of the biochemistry field that you'd like to pursue. You can take courses that help you advance your education further into the medical, biotechnology or veterinary master's degree programs.

Participate in lab work: A majority of biochemistry careers take place in a laboratory. You may complete lab work during your courses to familiarize yourself with the tools and overall lab atmosphere. You can also pursue an internship in a lab to gain hands-on lab training and experience.

There are a wide variety of fields you can pursue, such as forensic science, chemistry and biology, after you earn a biochemistry degree. Common jobs people with biochemistry degrees typically pursue include:

National average salary: $51,544 per year

Primary duties: A forensic science technician assists forensic scientists in criminal investigations to perform tests and report their results. Common job responsibilities include collaborating with law enforcement at crime sciences to collect DNA, running DNA profiling and chemical analysis tests, testifying as an expert witness in court and handling hazardous and contaminated pieces of physical evidence safely and responsibly.

Related: Learn About Being a Forensic Science Technician

National average salary: $63,734 per year

Primary duties: Forensic scientists process various pieces of evidence to help law enforcement prosecute suspects in criminal cases. Other responsibilities include interpreting blood spatter patterns at crime scenes, tracing drugs and other illegal substances in tissues and bodily fluids, managing and preserving crime scenes until the necessary personnel arrives and conducting post-mortem investigations on crime scene victims.

National average salary: $63,908 per year

Primary duties: A chemical engineer uses their advanced knowledge of mathematics and different areas of science to enhance the processes used in chemical experiments. They also work to find solutions to problems that scientists in the chemical industry may regularly undergo. Other key job duties include building, proposing and implementing plans to reach chemical companies' goals, increasing the quality and efficiency levels of chemical processes and compiling and analyzing data gained from on-site visits.

Related: Learn About Being a Chemical Engineer

National average salary: $65,066 per year

Primary duties: A biochemistry professor works for a university, college or other academic institution teaching students about different elements of biochemistry. Their main duties include providing lectures, administering tests, quizzes and assignments, conducting office hours to address students' questions about the lectures, overseeing lab experiments students conduct and developing syllabi that reflects the program's required curriculum.

National average salary: $79,272 per year

Primary duties: A biochemist conducts studies and experiments on the composition and functions of different life forms to determine how various chemical processes affect them. Other key job responsibilities include designing and executing scientific experiments, analyzing and recording large data sets and results, making recommendations on chemical processes based on their findings and refining chemical compounds for medical professionals or the public to use.

National average salary: $80,831 per year

Primary duties: A biologist studies plant life and other organisms to make discoveries about their behaviors, compositions and habitats. They also conduct research on these living beings to determine how other beings or organisms affect their environments. Other job duties include identifying, studying and classifying animals, plants and ecosystems, taking samples and measurements of organisms, learning more about organisms' diets and behaviors and maintaining detailed and accurate records related to their scientific research.

National average salary: $94,755 per year

Primary duties: A medical scientist conducts research on human illnesses and diseases to uncover ways to improve the health of humans. Other job responsibilities include conducting studies to investigate human diseases and potential treatment methods, analyzing medical data and samples to determine causes and dangers of certain chronic diseases or pathogens, building and testing various medical devices and writing research grant proposals for funding applications from private funding and government sources.

National average salary: $111,143 per year

Primary duties: A research scientist conducts experiments on different scientific concepts to prove or disprove certain scientific theories or insights. Other job responsibilities include proposing innovative scientific research ideas, spearheading data collection processes and efforts and publishing important findings in scholarly and academic journals.

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8 Jobs To Pursue With a Biochemistry Degree | Indeed.com