Rationale
The material on this page is designed for those in the class who have not had a prior course focused on molecular biology. It is derived from the course, Molecular Biology Through Discovery. A good strategy might be to first skim the material to see what areas you need to focus on.

It would be quite a burden to go through such an introduction without guidance. With that in mind, there will be special scheduled sessions each week, led by the TA, to help you get up to speed. See the Who We Are page for time and place.

Special Readings, Investigations, and Problem Sets for those who need them
    Notes: Strategies of Life
Graphical Companion: Self Assembly
Problem Set: Problem set concerning Strategies of Life

    Notes: Protein
Tutorial: Hemoglobin structure (Eric Martz, U Massachussetts - Amherst)
Resource: Protein Data Base (protein structures and sequences)
Resource: Protein Explorer (a protein visualization tool)
Resource: FirstGlance in Jmol (a less powerful but simpler protein visualization tool)
Problem Set: Problem set concerning protein

    Notes: DNA Structure (reduced version) or (full strength version)
Investigation: Build your own DNA
Problem Set: Problem set concerning DNA structure

    Notes: DNA Replication
Animation: Polymerase Chain Reaction (basic description)
Animation: Polymerase Chain Reaction (more flash)
Problem Set: Problem set concerning DNA replication

    Notes: Transcription and Translation
Table: The genetic code
Problem Set: Problem set concerning translation