Structural & Synthetic Biology (BIOC3000)

Course overview

The understanding of molecular structure and function is of central importance to students undertaking a major in the biological or chemical fields. This course focuses on concepts of DNA/RNA, protein, lipid and carbohydrate relating structure to function. Some content and assignments are based on current literature describing recent DNA and protein structures and how structure can inform about function. Laboratory work will emphasize the techniques required to analyse biomolecules in the context of a student-driven synthetic biology project.

BIOC3000 will develop the understanding of biochemistry and molecular biology initiated in BIOC2000 and BIOC2052. Fundamental concepts of macromolecular structure and function, biochemical energy transduction, information transfer, systems integration and molecular evolution will be covered in the context of several "big questions" at the frontiers of research today. Parallel themes in each module will cover the structure and function of major biological molecules and fundamental biochemical functions common to all kingdoms of life. Examples relevant to human medicine will be included but the focus is broader than on simply human or mammalian biochemistry. Practicals focussed on synthetic and structural biology will enable students to integrate and synthesise their prior learning and learn about current research techniques and what they can and cannot reveal. Effective communication of scientific results will be explored in contact sessions mentored by research staff.

Course requirements

Assumed background

For students who have undertaken their degrees at UQ, BIOC2000 is a prerequisite. Students from outside UQ should have a good understanding of the structure and function of proteins, DNA and carbohydrates.

Previous students have stated that CHEM2052 was very useful in building upon the material presented in BIOC2000 and this course provides a highly relevant background for BIOC3000. While for techical reasons CHEM2052 remains only a recommended prerequisite, and we do not assume a knowledge of the content of CHEM2052, students are strongly recommended to take CHEM2052 prior to attempting BIOC3000.

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

BIOC2000 or BIOC2900

Recommended prerequisites

We recommend completing the following courses before enrolling in this one:

BIOC2052 or CHEM2052 or BIOC2001

Incompatible

You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:

BIOC3900 (advanced) and BIOC7100 (co-taught)

Jointly taught details

This course is jointly-taught with:

Lectures, practicals and assessment will be shared with BIOC3900 and BIOC7100. Workshops will also be shared with BIOC7100 but not BIOC3900.

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

Check your online timetable regularly. There is also a timetable on the BIOC3000/3900/7100 blackboard site which provides a simplified overview of course activities.

Issues sometimes arise which necessitate changes in staff and timing etc. during semester that cannot be transferred promptly to the central timetable. In such cases email will be used to notify you of changes asap, so please make sure you read all course emails promptly and carefully.

Lectures: Generally there will be three lectures a week, and these fall into six modules of core content. However some lecture sessions will be devoted to helping you write up pracs or discussing science communication and professional ethics.

Practicals: There are two times to attend practical sessions. These will be held on Thursday from 10 am - 1 pm or 2 pm - 5 pm. The pracs start in the second week with a pipetting exercise which students need to complete before doing any further pracs. This is marked as pass/fail and successful completion is a course hurdle.

In 2025, the remainder of the practical stream is split into:

1. workshops to support the press release assessment exercise. Students will break into smaller groups for these sessions and work with a facilitator and several peers to ‘unpack’ papers on which they will prepare a press release. For these, students will be allocated into contact groups based on their choice of trigger paper for the press release assignment.
2. an extended practical each of covers four weeks on structural biology which will involve two wet lab sessions and two sessions in a computer lab.

Contact sessions: There is a single hour contact in certain weeks to support the practical activities.ﾠ Two times are available for this session.

Attendance at contact sessions is expected as exercises covered in the contact will need to be completed before coming into the labs or enable you to interpret the results of your experiments.

Aims and outcomes

This capstone biochemistry and molecular biology course will provide third level undergraduate students with an understanding of the structural biology of biomolecules, the way in which biological information transfer occurs in different molecular contexts (e.g. regulation of gene expression and transduction of environmental signals), and the mechanisms by which the evolutionary process shapes protein function at the molecular level. We will explore the ways in which an understanding of molecular structure and function can be used to design novel bio-inspired systems and devices using engineered genes and proteins as bio-bricks for synthetic biology. Methods for structure determination, namely X-ray crystallography and CryoEM will be covered along with other contemporary molecular techniques in the context of two extended practicals in synthetic biology and structure determination respectively. Through BIOC3000, students will develop an awareness of good scientific practice (both in the laboratory and in writing up and reporting on published data) and the different styles of communication used in science.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.

Assessment details

Press Release

• Hurdle
• Online

Mode

Activity/ Performance, Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Participation/ Student contribution

Weight

20%

Due date

8/04/2025 2:00 pm

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit your Press Release through the course Turnitin submission point in Blackboard. Before submitting your assessment item to Turnitin please name your file in the following way. FAMILY NAME_GivenName_StudentID_CourseCode_AssignmentName For example: Bob Smith (ID: 54329876) would name his ABCD1234 essay 1 in the following way. SMITH_Bob_54329876_ABCD1234_Essay1

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Applications for Extensions

Information on applying for an extension can be found here: my.UQ Applying for an extension.

Extension applications must be received by the assessment due date and time.

If you are unable to provide approved documentation to support your application by the due date and time, you must still submit your application by the deadline but with an attached Word document that outlines why you cannot provide the approved documentation by the deadline. You will then need to acquire and upload the approved documentation to your request within 24 hours. Please note: When an extension request has been submitted and is pending, students are expected to continue to work on the assessment item, with the aim of submitting by the requested due date and time.

Prolonged Absence

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester.

Extensions with Student Access Plans (SAP)

For extensions up to 7 days, your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, extension requests longer than 7 days (for any one assessment item) will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g. a medical certificate.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 10% will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point your submission will receive a mark of zero (0) unless an extension has been approved.

In most instances one or more hurdles will apply to your assessment item so you will need to submit it to fulfill the requirements of the course regardless of how late it is and the mark you are likely to be awarded.

Structural biology prac report

• Hurdle

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation

Weight

20%

Due date

26/05/2025 2:00 pm

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit your Structural Biology Prac Report through the course Turnitin submission point in Blackboard. Before submitting your assessment item to Turnitin please name your file in the following way. FAMILY NAME_GivenName_StudentID_CourseCode_AssignmentName For example: Bob Smith (ID: 54329876) would name his ABCD1234 essay 1 in the following way. SMITH_Bob_54329876_ABCD1234_Essay1

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Applications for Extensions

Information on applying for an extension can be found here: my.UQ Applying for an extension.

Extension applications must be received by the assessment due date and time.

If you are unable to provide approved documentation to support your application by the due date and time, you must still submit your application by the deadline but with an attached Word document that outlines why you cannot provide the approved documentation by the deadline. You will then need to acquire and upload the approved documentation to your request within 24 hours. Please note: When an extension request has been submitted and is pending, students are expected to continue to work on the assessment item, with the aim of submitting by the requested due date and time.

Prolonged Absence

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester.

Extensions with Student Access Plans (SAP)

For extensions up to 7 days, your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, extension requests longer than 7 days (for any one assessment item) will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g. a medical certificate.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 10% will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point your submission will receive a mark of zero (0) unless an extension has been approved.

In most instances one or more hurdles will apply to your assessment item so you will need to submit it to fulfil the requirements of the course regardless of how late it is and the mark you are likely to be awarded.

Final Exam

• Hurdle
• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

60%

Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

Assessment Hurdles

In order to pass this course, you must meet ALL of the following requirements (if you do not meet these requirements, the maximum grade you will receive will be a 3):

1. You must obtain an overall course mark of 50% or more; and
2. You must obtain an overall mark of 40% or more on the end of semester exam; and
3. You must obtain a minimum weighted average mark of 40% across all other non-examination course assessment items; and
4. You must complete 100% of the laboratory component of the course.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Should you fail a course with a grade of 3, you may be eligible for supplementary assessment. Refer to my.UQ for information on supplementary assessment and how to apply. 

Supplementary assessment provides an additional opportunity to demonstrate you have achieved all the required learning outcomes for a course.  

If you apply and are granted supplementary assessment, the type of supplementary assessment set will consider which learning outcome(s) have not been met.  

Supplementary assessment can take any form (such as a written report, oral presentation, examination or other appropriate assessment) and may test specific learning outcomes tailored to the individual student, or all learning outcomes. 

To receive a passing grade of 3S4, you must obtain a mark of 50% or more on the supplementary assessment. 

Additional assessment information

Assessment Submission

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure the on time, correct and complete submission of all assessment items.

Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (for example, screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).

In the case of a Blackboard outage, contact the Course Coordinator as soon as possible to confirm the outage with ITS.

Assessment/Attendance

Notify your Course Coordinator as soon as you become aware of any issue that may affect your ability to meet the assessment/attendance requirements of the course. The my.UQ website and the Course Profile (CP) for your course provide information about your course requirements, the rules associated with your courses and services offered by the University.

A note for repeating students in this course

Only learning activities and/or assessment items completed during the study period of enrolment, including any approved extensions, may contribute to your grade in this course. The whole or partial use of assessment items previously submitted for the same course, for a course at any institution, or for published material, is not permitted without written permission of the Course Coordinator.

Important Note

Turnitin is to be used for assignments/laboratory reports to check for plagiarism. Penalties can be severe for plagiarism.

The University has adopted the following definition of plagiarism: Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting as one's own original work the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of another either intentionally or unintentionally. These include published and unpublished documents, designs, music, sounds, images, photographs, computer codes and ideas gained through working in a group. These ideas, interpretations, words or works may be found in print and/or electronic media.

Students should read the UQ Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

Blackboard

Information relevant to the course can be found on the Blackboard website for BIOC3000 at learn.uq.edu.au

Please check the Announcements section of the Blackboard site regularly for information updates and read all course emails promptly and carefully.

This is how we communicate important information to you in this course.

Past exam papers

Past exam papers are available via the UQ library. However some questions may not be relevant to the current year due to slight changes in content. The lecturers in the course will also provide examples of the types of exam questions that you can expect for BIOC3000.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Additional learning activity information

Review Q&A session with lecturers in the course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.