Day One of Personalized Medicine

Today was our first day of the new unit on Personalized Medicine (also referred to as Individualized Medicine or Pharmacogenomics).  We discussed in class the potential of being able to tailor treatments based on known genetic markers, as well as using technology to better design vaccines and understand the causes of disease.  In class we identified areas we would need to study to be able to understand how personalized medicine works.  These are the areas that were named:

1.  Biochemistry
2.  Cell Structure and Function
3.  The Cell Cycle and its controls
4.  Cell communication
5.  Genetics (DNA structure and function, as well as mutations)
6.  Heredity
7.  Biotechnology
8.  The Immune System

The first topic we will cover in this unit is Biochemistry.  We need to know that cells are made up of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.  These molecules differ in their structure and function.  As we discuss the four types of biomolecules the information can get overwhelming, so for homework I asked students to fill in a Biomolecules Study Guide that will help organize the information. 

Homework: Use your review book or textbook to fill in as much information as you can about each of the biomolecules. 

	Composed of these elements	Properties	Building Blocks (monomers)	Examples	How to identify it
Carbohydrates	C,H,O	Polar, dissolves in water	Monosaccharides (ex. glucose)	Sugar, starch, cellulose
Lipids
Proteins
Nucleic Acids