Reflecting back on the course, what are three major themes you would identify that connect the various topics discussed in this course – how are they connected to more than one topic, and how do they connect with what you knew before this course? What knowledge have you gained with regards to these three themes you have identified?

Reflecting back on the course I would say proteins, enzymes, and mechanisms are the three themes that connect various topics. Mainly anything in this course has to do with a specific protein, and enzyme usually associated with that protein and a mechanism in how they work. This could apply to translation where we create a protein. Different enzymes are used and this happens by many different mechanisms. These connect to what I knew before in other courses. Almost all of my previous courses for science somehow involve proteins, enzymes, and mechanisms. I have learned alot of new information regarding these three themes. I have learned for most proteins there are an enzyme that is namely similar. I learned how each of these proteins and enzymes work together and the different mechanisms by which they work. I have seen all three of these themes relate to several different subjects.

How would you explain the connection between glucose entering the body and energy created by the body to a friend, using your new biochemistry knowledge?

If I was to explain the connection between glucose entering the body and energy created by the body to a friend I would talk about glycolysis and glyconeogenesis. I would talk about glycolysis if the body is in need of energy. If the body needs energy the glucose would enter the body and it would enter the glycolytic pathway. This will help produce ATP which is energy. I would talk about glyconeogenesis if the body doesn't need energy. In glyconeogensis, the glycogen enters glyconeogenesis to get stored. This stores the energy to be used at a later time when the body would need it. These two pathways are the opposite of eachother and are difficult to understand but I would explain it in these ways and use diagrams that we used in class to help diagram the explanation of the connection between glucose entering the body and energy created by the body.

What knowledge have you connected with past knowledge?

I have connected alot of new knowledge with past knowledge. I remember learning in previous courses about transcription, translation, and DNA. These topic were covered very briefly and did not go into as much detail as we have gone into in biochemistry. For example, I have learned about DNA in several courses. We maninly talked about how it was an alpha helix with base pairs and a sugar phosphate back bone. We learned about which base pairs connect together but in biochemistry, we talked about much more. We talked about how the sugar phosphate back bone came to be and we talked about the hydrogen bonds and which base pairs have a stronger bond because they have a triple hydrogen bond opposed to a double hydrogen bond. We talked about transcription in a way that it is more than just transcribing the information from DNA to make RNA and then how it is translated into the protein. In biochemistry, we learned what enzymes, complexes, innitiaters, promoters, enhancers, etc. that were involved. It always helps to have previous knowledge to help one remember that knowledge and build upon it.