Chem 110L Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry University of California, Santa Barbara Fall 2011 Syllabus and general course information for Chem110L, INTRODUCTORY BIOCHEMISTRY LABORATORY Lecturer: Kalju Kahn [email protected] Phone: x6157 Office: PSB-N 2623 Office hours: Tuesday 11:00–12:00 AM and by appointment. Teaching assistants: Section 1 (MW 6-9:50): Kiel Nikolakakis [email protected] Office hours: TBA Phone: x7195 Section 2 (TR 2-5:50): Wade Grabow [email protected] Office hours: TBA Phone: x5302 Section 3 (TR 6-9:50): Hannah Kallewaard [email protected] Office hours: Fri Phone: x5845 Lecture time Monday 3:00–3:50 Phelps Hall 1160 Lab session times Lab section 1: Mon 6:00-9:50; Wed 6:00-9:50; Lab section 2: Tue 2:00-5:50; Thu 2:00-5:50; Lab section 3: Tue 6:00-9:50; Thu 6:00-9:50; Lab sections are in PSB-N 2619 unless otherwise noted Course website: http://www.chem.ucsb.edu/~kalju/chem110LCourse Goals The purpose of Chem 110L is to get hands-on experience with modern methods of separation, identification, and study of biomolecules and macromolecular structures. It will strengthen your understanding of material taught in Chem 142A (Biochemistry lecture). In Chem 110L, you will do experiments with biomolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, sugars, and lipids. The 1-hour lecture series focuses on instrumental techniques and explains the methods used in the following lab. General Information and Expectations from Students Chem 110L is a laboratory course where the main portion of your grade is earned by performing experiments, documenting your work in your lab notebook, and answering questions presented with the experimental handout. There is a quiz at the beginning of each experiment and there is one final exam at the end of the course. Attendance in lectures and taking good lecture notes is expected. Supplementing the lecture notes with study notes based on the information available in the experiment manual, your Chem142 textbook, or resources on the internet is a good way to improve your chances to be successful in this course. Attendance in all laboratory sessions is mandatory. Please contact your instructor, your TA, and your lab partner at least one week ahead of time if you have to miss a class. For unexpected misses, you must provide a verifiable documentation stating that you “could not take the class”. There are two make-up days to repeat missed or unsuccessful experiments toward the end of the quarter. Honesty and academic integrity must be always preserved. While working with your partner(s) is encouraged in the laboratory, you must write your notebook up independently. You may discuss the discussion questions with other students in the class but make sure that your answers are original. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a warning with deduction of 50% of points on the first instance, and with score zero on the experiment on any following instance. No supplemental material should be used during quizzes and the final exam. No student shall give, sell, or otherwise distribute to others or publish any electronically available course materials or recordings made during any course presentation without the written consent of the instructor. Chem 110L is a relatively new course. Because most of the experiments were recently developed by your instructor here at UCSB, you do not have to purchase a lab manual for this course. Individual experiments can be downloaded from the course website: http://www.chem.ucsb.edu/~kalju/chem110L. Two books may be helpful in understanding the course materials. I have placed a book “Experiments in Biochemistry: A Hands-on Approach” by Farrell and Ranallo in the library reserve. Students may want to purchase “Biochemistry Laboratory : Modern Theory and Techniques” by Rodney Boyer or “Principles and Techniques of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology” by Wilson and Walker. As with any laboratory course, standard lab fee is collected from students who stay beyond the standard drop deadline. If you are a student with a disability and would like to discuss special academic accommodations, please contact me during my office hours.Safety Even though we have had an excellent safety record in our biochemistry laboratory, the teaching laboratory can be a dangerous place. A few hazards that are present include hot water or hot surfaces, toxic or corrosive chemicals (ethidium bromide, acrylamide, trichloroacetic acid etc), electricity, ultraviolet light, operating centrifuges, and broken glass. The general advice to safety is: know what you are doing by preparing for lab. Each experiment in the manual outlines most serious hazards that are present while performing the experiment and discusses ways to prevent accidents. Be sure to read these carefully and ask your TA or the instructor if you have any questions. Students have a right to view Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for chemicals used in the class. These can be accessed from http://ehs.ucsb.edu. Your TA will remind you of the potential hazards before each class. You must follow basic safety rules1 to ensure safety for yourself and fellow students during the class. 1) Always wear some sort of protective eyewear. You must wear either lab goggles that protect from the sides as well as from the front or a face shield. You can purchase lab goggles during the first weeks of the class from the department. There are two face shields in the laboratory. If you are wearing normal glasses, wear goggles over them as normal glasses do not provide side-protection. You may wear contact lenses along with lab goggles. Protective eyewear is not required in the computer lab. 2) Wear gloves when required, or when you are working with dangerous chemicals. Replace gloves when they become contaminated with toxic materials, such as ethidium bromide. Throw used gloves into the trash. 3) Wear appropriate clothing. You must wear closed shoes, and a shirt that covers the midsection. No shorts are allowed, and long pants and long sleeves are recommended. 4) Label all solutions that you prepare clearly. If the solution is in a container larger than 5 mL, make sure that the label conveys information about the content of the container and also identify your group or you personally