Biochemistry Assignment: Amino Acid Metabolism and Energy Production

Amino Acid Structure and Function

As you’ve already seen in the course, one of the key types of molecules we study in biochemistry are the 20 amino acids. Amino acids can play a variety of roles, either as their basic structures, or by being metabolized to other molecules. The metabolism section of this course primarily focusses on the production of energy from carbohydrates and lipids, but the point of this assignment is for you to understand how enzymes work and how amino acids can be used for energy. In this assignment, you will examine the c, including the enzymes and/or other proteins that it may interact with. By this point in the course, you should already have a good understanding of an amino acid’s structure, its properties and function, and in this assignment, you will examine how the molecule can be metabolized in order to produce energy. You are expected to complete this assignment independently and are responsible for maintaining academic integrity in this course. Be sure to reference any primary sources of information using CSE format (Author, Year). All submissions will be screened using the University of Toronto plagiarism detection tool.

Assignment Requirements:

Include the following sections in your assignment and be sure to cite any resources you may use (websites, review articles, primary scientific journals). If you do use a website, make sure it is a credible source (no Wikipedia!) and these should only be supplementary to peer reviewed journal articles. You do not need to cite the lecture material in BCH210H but should try to incorporate any information you have learned from the lectures in this assignment. Make sure you are rationalizing any statements that are made to demonstrate an understanding of the biochemistry at play. Each section should provide clear and concise paragraphs that address the given objectives. For each of the 3 sections, there is a maximum of 1 page of text, not including any images, with an approximate max page limit of 5 pages including figure(s). (Unlimited references can be included at the end of the document). The purpose of this 5 page limit is to ensure your assignment is clear and concise, yet thorough. Even  though you are allowed unlimited references, it may seem like a good idea to have 5 pages or 50 references, but at some point, you do need to start writing and figuring out what information is important in order to complete the assignment. We don’t want you to be overwhelmed with research, try to start with one article, and source others if need be. The inclusion of the following headings is not an absolute requirement, you may choose to omit them or include a variation to assist with the readability of your assignment.