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Check out Tips To Success III

Biochemistry was the next topic I had selected. Start with all the metabolic pathways in this order – carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleotides. I’m sure learning the metabolic sequences isn’t a big deal for biologists like us 😉

So learn each and every step very carefully, making a note on the cofactors or coenzymes used, ATP used or not, ATP to ADP conversion and vice-versa, etc. You also need to be good with numbers here since the questions they ultimately ask you are how many ATP or NADH or NADPH has been utilized or generated. If you go through the question papers, you will know exactly what I am talking about. I have found they have repeated questions on HMP shunt and beta oxidation of lipids. So you know what to study now 😛

Another favourite question that keeps appearing in NET as well as GATE is the number of ATP molecules formed after metabolism of a glucose molecule. Practise the same question with palmitic acid as well. Hydroxylation of amino acids are also important.

Also please study the chapters on Carbohydrates, Lipids and Amino acids and Proteins. DNA and protein sequencing methods (problem sums are very likely) cannot be ignored. You cannot neglect vitamins. The easiest way to study it would be write down the names of the different kinds of vitamins and their functions in our body. That should be adequate. Learn them by heart as we tend to forget them quite easily. Questions that are likely from here are the roles these vitamins play.

You can then move onto pH and buffers followed by chromatographic techniques and cell signalling. Be thorough with the sums on pH and buffers as they are very very very important in both the exams. There are possibilities that a tortuous problem sum may turn up in the exam and you just cannot afford to lose that 1 or 2 marks in an easy topic like this. That would be highly depressing, believe me. Under chromatography, be very clear with the principles and CONCEPTS of cation exchange chromatography, gel filtration and reverse phase chromatography. This does not mean you leave out the rest. This is an extremely vital chapter.

You would have done 95% of cell signalling while doing cell biology. The remaining 5% can be done here to completely safeguard your knowledge on this topic. You can never make a mistake should a question on cell signalling pop up in the question paper 😀

Enzymology is a very important topic in biochemistry. So please study this extremely carefully. You must know Michaelis Menten (MM) constant, Haldane’s assumption, MM graph, Lineweaver Burke plot, Inhibition mechanisms, their graphs and schematic representation. All fundamental concepts should be known. Practice the sums on this chapter thoroughly.

Nucleic acids, in M.Sc. syllabus, is important. You need to know melting curve, what is T_m, C_oT curves, factors affecting stability and structure of DNA, forms of DNA and their characteristics, properties of B-from of DNA. If you have some time left in your study schedule, you can devote some time to signalling and stress chapter. Alternatively, you can leave this out in case you’re running short of time and you have other important topics to be done. Signalling and stress is a less important chapter.

The best for biochemistry are Principles of Biochemistry by Lehninger, Nelson and Cox and Biochemistry by Voet & Voet. For Proteins and Tools and Methods in Biochemistry you can refer to Voet & Voet. For the rest Lehninger is the best. Biochemistry could take about another 10 – 14 days.

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