Students learn the fundamentals of using microbes to treat wastewater. They discover how wastewater is generated and its primary constituents. Microbial metabolism, enzymes and bioreactors are explored to fully understand the primary processes occurring within organisms.

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the role of enzymes in metabolic pathwaysExplain how enzymes function as molecular catalystsDiscuss enzyme regulation by various factors

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the role of enzymes in metabolic pathwaysExplain how enzymes function as molecular catalystsDiscuss enzyme regulation by various factors

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Describe the functions proteins perform in the cell and in tissuesDiscuss the relationship between amino acids and proteinsExplain the four levels of protein organizationDescribe the ways in which protein shape and function are linked

Cellular respiration is the process by which our bodies convert glucose from food into energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Start by exploring the ATP molecule in 3D, then use molecular models to take a step-by-step tour of the chemical reactants and products in the complex biological processes of glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, the Electron Transport Chain, and ATP synthesis. Follow atoms as they rearrange and become parts of other molecules and witness the production of high-energy ATP molecules.

Students perform DNA forensics using food coloring to enhance their understanding of DNA fingerprinting, restriction enzymes, genotyping and DNA gel electrophoresis. They place small drops of different food coloring ("water-based paint") on strips of filter paper and then place one paper strip end in water. As water travels along the paper strips, students observe the pigments that compose the paint decompose into their color components. This is an example of the chromatography concept applied to DNA forensics, with the pigments in the paint that define the color being analogous to DNA fragments of different lengths.

In this seminar students will explore the hacking of glue! You will inquire about the way in which enzymes are a part of chemical reactions in the biological sense through simulations.  Experimental investigations will lead to the understanding of the denaturing process of enzymes.StandardsBIO.A.2.2.2 Describe how biological macromolecules form from monomers.BIO.A.2.2.3 Compare and contrast the structure and function of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids in organisms.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Biofilms are the slimy cities some microbes form when they invade a surface. Conventional cleaning products are generally good at breaking up biofilms. But they tend to be harsh on the environment. And while natural products are a good alternative, it takes multiple enzymes to break up the strong polymers that make bacteria stick. But researchers are confident that a natural solution does exist. One team searched the forest floor in the Netherlands for microbes that might produce an all-in-one biofilm-busting enzyme. To coax those microbes out, they enriched forest litter with an especially tough biopolymer produced by forest bacteria: Acidobacteria. Microbes that could thrive in that environment likely produced enzymes strong enough to degrade the biopolymer blend. Analyses indicated the predominance of four bacterial phyla. More importantly, they revealed the main type of enzyme these bacteria secreted: glycoside hydrolases..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Chemical kinetics and buffers are two topics that are extremely difficult for students to understand. Combining the two topics will allow for a staggered, repetitive approach to teaching students to understand of how these two topics in chemistry actually work. Students will both qualitatively and quantitatively track the effect and enzyme has on a reaction, calculate the reaction rate and buffer capacity. Students will use a variety of lab techniques including calculations using Beer’s Law and spectrophotometry.

Let's Learn about Chirality is a video-based module that introduces the concept of chirality and stereoisomers to students. The module is an Open Educational Resources #OER containing short videos and fun quizzes* that you can take to test your understanding. In this module, you will learn to use different terms for stereoisomers and chiral molecules, recognize characteristics of stereoisomers, construct a model of 2-chlorobutane, identify the chiral carbons in chemical structures and assign absolute configurations to a molecule. The concluding video will briefly explain how chirality affects the chemistry of substances & pharmaceuticals. Click on View Resources and let's learn about Chirality.*For teachers, the Genial.ly quizzes are re-useable for your classes.*

Towards finding a solution to the unit's Grand Challenge Question about using nanoparticles to detect, treat and protect against skin cancer, students continue the research phase in order to answer the next research questions: What is the structure and function of skin? How does UV radiation affect the chemical reactions that go on within the skin? After seeing an ultraviolet-sensitive bead change color and learning how they work, students learn about skin anatomy and the effects of ultraviolet radiation on human skin, pollution's damaging effect on the ozone layer that can lead to increases in skin cancer, the UV index, types of skin cancer, ABCDEs of mole and lesion evaluation, and the sun protection factor (SPF) rating system for sunscreens. This prepares students to conduct the associated activity, in which they design quality-control experiments to test SPF substances.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The molecular mechanisms behind diseases and malignancies were once considered to follow a basic paradigm. Cells use a network of protein-protein interactions to detect environmental changes, signal the nucleus, and then trigger a response through changes in gene expression. Recent evidence, however, suggests the products of protein breakdown, rather than the proteins alone, could play an important role. A new review from the Kastritis Laboratory outlines how the fatty acid metabolites acetyl-CoA, α-ketoglutarate, and palmitic acid, in particular help orchestrate cell signaling and communication. These metabolites are regulated by large enzymatic complexes, or “metabolons”; acetyl-CoA by the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, α-ketoglutarate by the 2-oxoglutarate dehydrogenase complex and palmitic acid by fatty acid synthase..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Cancers are complex diseases largely characterized by rapid cellular proliferation. This can be slowed by regulated cell death mechanisms like ferroptosis. Ferroptosis is triggered by extensive peroxidation of cell membrane phospholipids by reactive oxygen species (ROS), but ferroptosis can be inhibited by enzymes that undo peroxidation like GPX4. Another enzyme, DHODH, supports GPX4 and is vital to the production of pyrimidine nucleotides, critical building blocks for rapidly proliferating cells. In theory, this would make inhibiting DHODH a valuable therapeutic target for cancer by freeing up ferroptosis and hampering proliferation. However, this is complicated by the “Warburg effect,” which is common in some cancer cells. The Warburg effect is a shift away from using mitochondria for energy to other metabolic processes, which has knock-on effects..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.