Available to all students registered for a Single Honours degree in Biochemistry with or without another subject. Available to JYA/Erasmus students. Students from other degree courses need the module convenors’ permission in writing to select this module and may be removed from the enrolment without this.

The course covers the life history of proteins from birth (synthesis) to death (degradation), and how this goes wrong in common diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration. On this journey, other major aspects of protein development, distribution and death will be discussed at a molecular level including protein folding, the cytoskeleton, protein and vesicle trafficking including endocytosis, post-translational modification and protein degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome and autophagy. Key concepts will be illustrated via selected case studies. This module covers fundamental aspects of molecular cell biology that are essential for health and disease and will explain both normal protein life and what goes wrong in common diseases where defects in these processes are the root cause of pathology.

The course will also allow students to utilise their basic biochemical knowledge to understand the life history of proteins from birth to death.