Biochemistry is a field of science that brings together all disciplines to study physical and chemical processes in living organisms. It truly is the science of life. Being a scientific discipline in its true nature and form, it has a significant impact on almost all areas of life sciences.
Consequently, the demand for biochemists is surging every year. However, to be a biochemist yourself, you need to appear for an exam, and to train for this exam, you need the right course.
Now, when you look for online biochemistry classes, you will find a wide array of options. Picking the best course from the many available options can be pretty challenging. Understanding this problem, we decided to scout through the internet and find some of the best online biochemistry classes for you.
We did not make this choice alone, and the selection has been made on the expert recommendation of the industry-recognized biochemists from different corners of the world.
We made the course selection on the following parameters:
- The learning that is assured through the course
- Experience of the instructor teaching the course.
- Price of the course.
- Online ratings and reviews from the students who have taken this course.
- Resources that you get with the course
Let us now jump to the top courses on the internet to study biochemistry online.
Best Online Biochemistry Courses
- Principles of Biochemistry – By Harvard University – edX
- Biochemistry: Biomolecules, Methods, and Mechanisms – By Massachusetts Institute of Technology – edX
- Biochemistry: the Molecules of Life – By University of East Anglia – FutureLearn
- Biochemistry – MIT Open Courseware
- Biochemistry – UC San Diego Extension
- Medical Biochemistry – By University of New England
6 Top Online Biochemistry Classes and Courses
1. Principles of Biochemistry – By Harvard University – edX
What is this course all about?
The first one of our online biochemistry courses is a course offered by Harvard University. In this course, you will study life molecules, beginning with simple building blocks and complex metabolism. It is one of the hugely popular online biochemistry courses and has been enrolled by approximately 2,80,000 students.
The instructor integrates an introduction to the biochemical approach to cellular function and macromolecules’ structure in this course. The central topic of this course addresses protein function. This includes enzyme kinetics, the characterization of major metabolic pathways and their interdependence into rigidly regulated networks.
Further, you will also explore simple red blood cells to more complex tissues, such as the liver and muscles, through the course. These will be employed as a structure to discuss the progression in metabolic complexity. You will also develop analytical skills and problem skills with this best online biochemistry course.
While the course is free, obtaining an authenticated certificate to showcase your skills requires a small payment. This is a verified and official certificate from the Harvard University. This will be an instructor-signed certificate and will come with the institution’s logo. So, you can use the certificate you earn with these online biochemistry classes to authenticate your achievement and better your job prospects.
It is an easily shareable certificate. You can include this certificate in your resume or CV or post it on your LinkedIn. It is a proven motivation and will 100% give you an added incentive to complete the course. It is a 100% online self-paced course. So, you can start at your schedule and take the classes as convenient for you. You can even reset the deadlines if required.
What will you learn in these online biochemistry classes?
In this best online biochemistry course, you will learn about the following:
- Function and structure of the chemical building blocks of life
- Navigating protein structures using PyMOL
- Primary metabolic pathways that power cells
- The primary role of enzymes in catalyzing life reactions
- Integration of biochemical processes concerning organisms, tissues, and cells
- Intricate mechanisms that regulate cellular metabolism
What do you need?
This is one of the top-selling online biochemistry courses and has a duration of fifteen weeks. The course demands an input of four to six hours every week for fifteen weeks from you. So, to take the course, you should find adequate time and motivation. Though the course is free, you will have to bear a fee of 199 USD to earn a verified certificate. This is an intermediate-level course to study biochemistry online. So, it is best advised to have former knowledge on this subject.
Beyond basic English understanding, there are some other prerequisites too before taking the course. These include:
- College-level Introductory Biology
- College-level Introductory General Chemistry, including basic Organic Chemistry
2. Biochemistry: Biomolecules, Methods, and Mechanisms – By Massachusetts Institute of Technology – edX
What is this course all about?
The next course on our online biochemistry courses list is a course from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Through this course to study biochemistry online, you can accentuate your data analysis and scientific thinking skills, along with an in-depth adventure through biochemistry. Over 20,000 students have already enrolled for this course.
Do you aspire to prepare for med school, or become a research scientist, or study a STEM field, or transition to a career in the booming biotechnology industry? Or, do you wish to understand the chemical reactions that govern life itself?
If your answer for any of the above-stated questions is yes, you can get ready to join Professor Yaffe, who is the core instructor for this online biochem course. He is a practicing surgeon and an MIT professor. Through this course, he will guide you through science, which inspires countless researchers, doctors, and students.
Through these online biochemistry classes, the instructor will give you a robust and thorough means to authenticate edX learners and demonstrate their adeptness of the MITx biochemistry content with this MITx 7.05x Biochemistry Competency Exam. Please bear in mind; this challenging option is present only for students who register for the verified certificate track. It is this exam, which is the critical assessment grade, which counts toward a certificate.
Course Fee:
Even though it is a zero-cost course, you can pursue a verified certificate to highlight the skills and the knowledge that you gain via the course. When you pursue this certification, you will have to bear a small fee of 150 USD. This is a verified and official certificate. There will be a Massachusetts Institute of Technology logo in this instructor-signed certificate to authenticate your achievement and better your job prospects. This is an easily shareable certificate.
So, you can import, download, and then print it to include in your resume or CV or post it on your LinkedIn. Studies have proven that this MIT authenticated certificate is indeed a great motivator for students to timely complete the course.
This best online biochemistry course has been developed 7.05x Biochemistry with an emphasis on:
- Using data based on actual scientific experiments and highlighting the scientific process.
- Developing your scientific thinking skills includes performing thought experiments, articulating hypotheses, designing experiments, and interpreting data.
- Translating topics in biochemistry to medicine and diseases.
- Conveying the authentic MIT firehose experience.
- Asserting that biology is an active field keeps changing via examples of MIT (and other current) research, not static information in a textbook.
- Visualizing real molecular structures with PyMOL to better understand function and mechanism.
- Appreciating the quantitative aspects of biochemistry and practicing this quantitation with MATLAB.
- Applying the science of learning.
What will you learn?
- How structure, allostery, and the Bohr effect influence hemoglobin function.
- Application of the scientific processes to pursue research questions.
- Interpreting the plot behaviors, graphs and calculating the constants related to enzyme function.
- How G proteins play a crucial role in signaling.
- How to analyze protein purification schemes.
- How pumps, transporters, and channels differ from regulating molecule transfer across membranes.
- How experts comprehend the protein structure.
Syllabus
These online biochemistry classes include the following learning sequences:
- Introduction to Biochemistry; pH and Buffers
- Amino Acids and Proteins
- Protein Purification
- Protein Structure
- Protein Folding
- Hemoglobin and Allostery
- Hemoglobin and the Bohr Effect
- Enzyme Chemistry
- Enzyme as Catalysts
- Enzyme Kinetics
- Membranes, Channels, Transporters, and Pumps
- Blood Clotting
- Signal Transduction
What do you need?
This is an 11-week course and will require an effort of three to six hours every week from your end. It is an intermediate-level course and is in the English language. So, for taking this course, you must be familiar with the language and its comprehension. Please know that this is an instructor-led course and works on a course schedule. So, there are no flexible timelines.
Beyond time and willingness to learn, you also need to take the following courses to be thorough with the fundamentals:
Related: Relationship Between Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Undergraduate introductory biology (biochemistry and molecular biology);
- Undergraduate introductory chemistry;
- Undergraduate organic chemistry I (chemical structures and biological mechanisms)
Who can take this course?
Sadly, learners from a couple of countries or regions will not be able to register for this course. This includes the Crimea region of Ukraine, Cuba, and Iran. Though edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to provide the courses to learners from the listed countries or regions, the licenses so received are not broad enough to enable edX to offer these online biochemistry classes in all locations.
3. Biochemistry: the Molecules of Life – By University of East Anglia – FutureLearn
What is this course all about?
Third, on our online biochemistry courses list is the Future Learn online biochem course. This is one of the top-rated online biochemistry courses and has a rating of 4.7. This course helps you explore the subject’s basics and all it has to offer.
Through this course, you can explore the impact of biochem on health and bioenergy and understand why biochem graduates are so highly in demand. Over 40,000 students have taken this course. This is a three-week course, and you will have to put in a weekly study of three weeks for this course. It is a 100% online course where you can study biochemistry online at your own pace.
When you purchase this course to study biochemistry online, everything happens on your timeline. So, the lessons are divided into activities, steps, and weeks, but you can complete your online biochemistry classes as fast or as slow as you like.
With this course, you will be a part of a global classroom setup. Through this Future Learn course, you can encounter the power of social learning. So, when you learn with a community, it is easier to get inspired and motivated to learn better. You can share your ideas with course educators and your fellow learners at every step of the course.
In this free online biochem course, you will study the history and background of biochemistry and its contemporary significance in the life sciences. You should take this course if you loved chemistry and bio during your school days and aspire to study or work in biochemistry as a distinct subject.
Lastly, the course will also introduce some of the biochemistry careers prevalent in the market. It will simplify the process of looking at opportunities and jobs available in the market.
What will you achieve?
Upon completing this one of the most comprehensive online biochemistry courses, you can:
- Describe events and scientific people that have been significant during the historical development of biochemistry.
- Discuss biochemistry’s role in bringing together the natural sciences to describe the chemical basis in living systems.
- Summarise & understand seminal experiments that led to important advances in biochemical knowledge.
- Learn where biochemistry will play a significant role in scientific advances in the times to come.
- Point out the different crossover points that exist between biology and chemistry curriculum.
- Be open to the myriad career opportunities jobs and career opportunities that become possible with training in biochemistry.
Who should take this course?
This is one of the top online biochemistry courses for 15 to 19-year-olds studying biology and chemistry and considering further studies in biochemistry. For this course, you do not need any prior formal qualifications. With your instructor’s explanation of relevant details, the entire material will be understandable to all with background knowledge in biology and chemistry and a fundamental interest in the subject.
Review Letlhogonolo M.:
Well organized and informative. Right level to feed my curiosity. Very informative content, I enjoyed learning every part of it till the end. Thank you, Futurelearn for organizing every lesson excellently, in a manner that is enjoyable and encouraging for learning.
4. Biochemistry – MIT Open Courseware
What is this course all about?
Next on our online biochemistry courses list is the course by MIT Open Courseware. In this course, you will study two units. In the first one, you will start with the fundamentals of cell composition and biochemistry. This one is indeed one of the most popular online biochemistry courses.
In this course, you will study the structure of molecular forces and the biological molecules involved in molecule formation. Further, the course also takes you through the general function and structure of carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids, and the structure, composition, and function of proteins.
Further, the course will also help you identify the forces responsible for biological systems. You will draw a generic amino acid and categorize each of the 20 amino acids appropriately based on the side chain’s nature. Next, you will also be adept at applying the general laws of thermodynamics to biological reactions.
The course will enable you to learn about the properties and structures of the prevalent macromolecule groups, including carbohydrates, nucleic acids, phospholipids, proteins, and lipids, and their cellular function. The course will also familiarize you with the primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary protein structure levels.
Through these online biochemistry classes, you will acquire the knowledge and understanding of the types of bonds and know what forces stabilize each level. Besides, you will also see the impact of the amino acid substitution on the protein’s general function and structure. You will understand how ATP provides the energy to power cellular work.
Lastly, you will have an adequate understanding of photosynthesis and cellular respiration reactions, when they occur, and why they are essential. You will also be aware of the relationships between cellular respiration and photosynthesis.
5. Biochemistry – UC San Diego Extension
What is this course all about?
The next one on our online biochemistry courses list is the UC San Diego Extension course. It is one of the students’ favorite online biochemistry courses as it earns you credit equivalent to 4.50 unit(s).
In this course, you will study life at the atomic and molecular levels. Further, you will learn about the four biomolecule classes, which are the building blocks of living organisms – nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. You will also know how bioenergy is stored in and extracted from food sources. Lastly, you will understand how inheritable genetic information is stored in the form of DNA and orchestrates cells’ functions via the transcription and translation processes.
Who should take this course?
This is one of the finest online biochemistry courses for students who have not taken a biochemistry course. Even the students with some knowledge of the subject seeking to refresh their knowledge will benefit from the course. For this course, having a rudimentary understanding of biology and chemistry is recommended.
Topics covered
In this study biochemistry online course, you will learn the below-listed topics:
- Atoms; Life; Water
- Protein Composition and Structure
- Concepts and Kinetics of Enzymes
- Hemoglobin, Carbohydrates, and Lipids
- Membranes, Signal Transduction, and Digestion
- Metabolism, Glycolysis, and Acetate
- The Citric Acid Cycle
- Oxidative Phosphorylation
- Nucleic Acid Structure and DNA Replication
- RNA synthesis, processing, and regulation
- Protein synthesis
6. Medical Biochemistry – University of New England
What is this course all about?
The last one on our online biochemistry courses list is a course by the University of New England. It is a 100% online course. It is a self-paced course. This implies that you can set your deadlines for the course and start and finish at your schedule in approximately 16 weeks.
CHEM 1005 is a four-credit lecture-only online medical biochemistry course. The key focus of this University of New England course is on human medical biochemistry. Through this course, the instructor’s key objective is to enable you to learn all the principal biochemistry concepts, that apply to human disease and health, and quote examples of their application.
With this course, you can better evaluate and analyze the most prevalent biochemistry cited in the medical literature. More so, in this course, the fundamentals will streamline further learning of the subject and even the health sciences. To enroll in the course, use their self-service registration portal. Enrollment can be done at any time. Please bear in mind; that you will have to pay the complete sum when you register for the course.
What will you learn?
A few learnings from the course include:
- Evaluation of how enzymes streamline chemical reactions and the role of vitamins or metabolic cofactors in these reactions.
- Relating the enzyme activities and concentrations that are employed in clinical diagnosis.
- Evaluation of the various mechanisms via which hormones signal and influence metabolic pathways and enable homeostasis within the body.
- Defining the carb metabolism and its role in generating ATP for the cell.
- Showcasing an understanding of lipid transport, metabolism, and storage in the fed and fasted conditions.
- Understanding how amino acids are utilized as the precursors for the synthesis of necessary compounds, protein synthesis, and as substrates for glucose production.
- Analyzing the role of the urea cycle in coordinating amino acid catabolism and nitrogen disposal.
- Defining the synthesis of nucleotides from carbon donors.
- Understanding how the nucleotide synthesis process is combined with nitrogen metabolism and DNA synthesis.
- Understanding the role and regulation of the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and proteins in normal physiological conditions and the changes in disease processes.
What do you need?
Before you take this course, there are some prerequisites. These include the following courses:
- One semester of college-level biology (BIOL 1010)Two semesters of college-level general chemistry (CHEM 1010and CHEM 1011)
- One semester of college-level organic chemistry (CHEM 1020)
How do exams work?
All the exams take place online. In case of important exams, they will be proctored online through ProctorU. To know about the technique to take the exam online, you should visit UNE Online’s ProctorU site. The exams should be proctored with the UNE-approved external webcam.
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How do labs work?
CHEM 1005 is a lecture-only course. So, there is no associated lab component available with this course.
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Conclusion
So, these are the top online biochemistry courses. Each of these courses is the best in its class, and you won’t regret picking anyone from the above-listed six courses.
However, before you decide on any one course, do not forget to take a moment and read through the course website. For easy access, we have provided the site links along with the course.
You can find additional details on the website, such as the course’s price, the status of certification, the instructor bio, and the course’s enrollment details. So, go ahead, read more about the online biochem course, and make an informed decision.
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