Essentials of Biomolecules : Nucleic Acids and Peptides

By Prof. Lal Mohan Kundu | IIT Guwahati

Learners enrolled: 177

The proposed course aims to provide essentials of chemistry and biology of two very important class of biomolecules: nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) and proteins. The course allows to decipher: how structural features are translated into biological functions; how highly organized and selective chemical reactions are adopted that allows DNA to replicate or dictates step-wise synthesis of specific sequence of proteins; how organic chemistry tools in combination with enzymes were ingeniously applied to determine sequences of DNA and proteins and how chemical modifications could be done to mimic similar biological properties. The course also includes modern techniques, development of biomolecular probes as high-throughput detection of biomolecules, single nucleotide polymorphisms and disease diagnosis. Overall, the course falls within the domain of organic chemistry and chemical biology.

INTENDED AUDIENCE : For chemistry, Biochemistry and Biotechnology students
PREREQUISITES : Basic knowledge in organic chemistry
INDUSTRY SUPPORT : All major pharmaceuticals and Biotech companies

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Core
Duration :	12 weeks
Start Date :	24 Jan 2022
End Date :	15 Apr 2022
Exam Date :	24 Apr 2022 IST
Category :	Chemistry
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Postgraduate

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction, Nucleic acids and proteins

Week 2: Synthesis of nucleobases, nucleotides and oligonucleotides

Week 3: Solid phase synthesis of oligonucleotides

Week 4: DNA replication, Polymerases, DNA sequencing and PCR

Week 5: DNA damage, mutations and cancer

Week 6: DNA to proteins: transcription, translation and genetic code

Week 7: Peptides, sequencing and applications in therapeutics

Week 8: Solution phase and solid phase peptide synthesis

Week 9: Expansion of genetic code: PNA, LNA and molecular probes

Week 10: Modern techniques for biomolecules and disease diagnosis

Week 11: Structures and chemistry of sugars and carbohydrates

Week 12: Carbohydrate based polymers as biomolecular probes and therapeutics; conclusion

Books and references

1. Essentials of Chemical Biology by A. Miller and J. Tanner
2. Biochemistry by Berg,Tymoczkao and Stryer
3. Molecular Biology of The Cell by Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, and Peter Walter
4. Molecular Biology of The Gene by James D. Watson, Tania A. Baker, Stephen P. Bell, Alexander Gann, Michael Levine, Richard Losic

Instructor bio

Prof. Lal Mohan Kundu

IIT Guwahati

Dr. Lal Mohan Kundu studied B.Sc. (Honors) in chemistry from RKMRC Narendrapur, Calcutta University in 1998. After completing master degree in chemistry from IIT Kharagpur in 2000, he moved to LMU Munich, Germany to pursue PhD with Prof. Thomas Carell. During this tenure he worked for the development of modified nucleic acids, DNA damage and repair. During postdoctoral stay at University of Alberta, Canada with Prof. Glan Loppnow and subsequently with Prof. Mizuo Maeda in RIKEN, Japan, he worked for the synthesis of modified nucleic acids probes for high-throughput detection of genomic mutations. Dr. Kundu joined the department of chemistry at IIT Guwahati in 2009 as assistant professor. He is currently a Professor and works in organic synthesis of nucleic acids, anticancer agents, peptide chemistry, biomolecular based targeted drug delivery and nanoparticle based therapeutics. His teachings in UG and PG level include: organic chemistry, chemical biology, biological macromolecules

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams: 24 April 2022 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Guwahati .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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