The epigenome serves as a signal integration platform that encodes information from experience and environment that adds tremendous complexity to the regulation of transcription required for memory, beyond the directions encoded in the genome. To date, our understanding of how epigenetic mechanisms integrate information to regulate gene expression…

Storage of long-term memory requires not only protein synthesis but also protein degradation. In this article, we overview recent publications related to this issue, stressing that the balanced actions of protein synthesis and degradation are critical for long-term memory formation. We particularly focused on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor…

For 26 years, it has been assumed by some that the thermodynamics of open-system biochemical reactions must be executed by performing Legendre transformations on the terms involving the species whose concentrations are being held fixed. In contrast, standard nontransformed thermodynamics applies to chemical processes. However, it has recently been…

Lifelong learning is essential for healthy aging, and education can positively influence the older population's quality of life and cognition. Foldit (www.fold.it) is a free academic citizen science video game designed to help scientists with biochemistry problems. Foldit also has educational potential for different levels of learners--including…

This study examines stress biomarkers over the process of teaching and their associations with demographics, emotions, and mental health of 56 English as Foreign Language teachers. Participating teachers were invited to complete a questionnaire packet and provide saliva samples over three-time points (i.e., before, during, and end of teaching).…

This study identified a lackluster classroom atmosphere in advanced biochemistry, characterized by low levels of active student participation in interactive communication and subpar quality of after-class learning tasks. The issues stemmed not only from students' learning attitudes, such as insufficient attention to the curriculum, but also from…

A laboratory experiment is described in which students carry out immobilization of the enzyme invertase via entrapment in alginate (Ca-alginate) and, accordingly, estimate values for kinetic constants and mass transfer coefficients. Immobilization of enzymes, or confinement thereof to a defined space with retention of most catalytic activity, is…

Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease is an emerging situation that brought challenges to all sectors, including academia and research. Undergraduate and postgraduate students in biochemistry and molecular biology have been affected significantly due to the recent laboratory closures. Experiments have been suspended for long causing extreme stress to the…

This article describes a straightforward approach to deliver an enzyme assay and kinetics laboratory via online delivery methods in the time of COVID-19.

Purpose: Automobile racing is physically challenging, but there is no information related to experience level and physiological responses to racing. The aim of this study was to compare physiological responses of professional (PRO) and amateur (AM) sportscar drivers. Methods: Four male racing drivers (PRO n = 2, AM n = 2), completed a physical…

Guided inquiry is the practice of allowing students to come to their own conclusions about a set of data instead of verifying a known result using a given experimental procedure. Open inquiry takes this idea one step further by allowing students to develop their own experiment and then analyze the data to arrive at a conclusion. To expose upper…

With the global pandemic this spring, we experienced a switch to remote education halfway through our semester at The College of New Jersey. For an advanced special topics in chemical biology class, lecture and group work required changes, increasing the number of assignments as well as the level of independent thinking and application-based…

Oral exams may be as old as academia itself, but they are now rare in STEM undergraduate courses in the U.S. Can they be resurrected to help students develop oral communication skills, foster a sense belonging to a scholarly community, and change how students approach learning? This past spring, as we transitioned to emergency remote learning, my…

In order to succeed in biochemistry, students must transfer and build upon their understanding of general chemistry and introductory biology concepts. One such critical area of knowledge is bioenergetics. Student misconceptions around energy and free energy must be addressed prior to learning more advanced topics, such as energy flow in metabolic…

Biochemistry and molecular biology education starts before our students get to university. From a very early age, they start learning informally about science beginning with the basics of science and as they progress through their school years they should be exposed to more advanced topics such as biochemistry and molecular biology. This session…