[Lord Jon]

Hi!

I have some choices for biomedical science as you can see in my sig but I have a few for biochemistry (not in the sig) But I need help!

What is the true difference between biochemistry and biomedical science in terms of content etc... I may want to work then go on to medical school after or I may go straight in But I am confused as tp which to choose.

[odair]

Not sure if I am stating the obvious but I have heard that biochemistry has a lot more chemistry content, whereas biomedical science has more biology. I am not sure about that though.

I have been researching uni's websites for this too and looking on Sheffield's, it says

For biochemistry:
"Biochemistry is the study of the molecular basis of life. Despite the incredible diversity of living organisms, biochemistry has shown that they share many common molecules and metabolic processes."

Biomedical science:
"Biomedical sciences are concerned with the understanding of our bodies and our ability to control them during health and disease. The course covers subject areas such as cancer, cell biology, developmental genetics, functional genomics, neuroscience, physiology and stem cells."

I think what this means is that say for example you are studying cancer. In biomed science, you would look at how cancer cells affect the body, how our bodies respond to them; in biochemistry you would look at how the cell functions, the structural makeup of a cancer cell etc.

I hope this helps... i would suggest looking around the universities websites and seeing their course details, as I think they would provide a better explanation than me Good luck with what you choose to do!!

[Lord Jon]

(Original post by odair)
Not sure if I am stating the obvious but I have heard that biochemistry has a lot more chemistry content, whereas biomedical science has more biology. I am not sure about that though.

I have been researching uni's websites for this too and looking on Sheffield's, it says

For biochemistry:
"Biochemistry is the study of the molecular basis of life. Despite the incredible diversity of living organisms, biochemistry has shown that they share many common molecules and metabolic processes."

Biomedical science:
"Biomedical sciences are concerned with the understanding of our bodies and our ability to control them during health and disease. The course covers subject areas such as cancer, cell biology, developmental genetics, functional genomics, neuroscience, physiology and stem cells."

I think what this means is that say for example you are studying cancer. In biomed science, you would look at how cancer cells affect the body, how our bodies respond to them; in biochemistry you would look at how the cell functions, the structural makeup of a cancer cell etc.

I hope this helps... i would suggest looking around the universities websites and seeing their course details, as I think they would provide a better explanation than me Good luck with what you choose to do!!

Oh I see. Thanks

[Florrick]

Usually everyone goes for the former.

Not that I don't mind.

[Peregrinum]

From Wikipedia: "Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes. By controlling information flow through biochemical signalling and the flow of chemical energy through metabolism, biochemical processes give rise to the incredible complexity of life. Much of biochemistry deals with the structures and functions of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules although increasingly processes rather than individual molecules are the main focus. Today the main focus of pure biochemistry is in understanding how biological molecules give rise to the processes that occur within living cells which in turn relates greatly to the study and understanding of whole organisms."

A biochemistry degree includes topics such as protein structure and function, genes and genomes, enzymology and catalysis, biochemical signalling, metabolism, photosynthesis and glycolysis, synthesis of biological molecules, molecular cell biology, etc.
A biomedical science degree includes topics such as cell biology, developmental biology, neuroscience, pathology, physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, organ systems, cancer biology, etc.

So biochemistry is the study of chemistry, molecules, and processes of life (and you'd be studying the absolute nitty-gritty of it all) whereas biomedical science is the study of human form and function in relation to medicine. However, biochemistry degrees in the UK tend to have a high number of biomedicine modules, so much so that there may be virtually no difference between a biomedical sciences degree and a biochemistry degree from the same place. There's more uniformity in terms of degree content when it comes to biomedical science, but if you want to study real biochemistry then you have to pay very close attention to the actual course content in any given university. Both degrees are suitable for health and allied health professions so it really comes down to what kind of topics you'd rather study.

[nicatre]

From what I've read of BioMed courses they tend to be a great middle ground between human biology and medicine. There's a lot of in depth study of the body and each year you get some repeating topics which just go into further details.
You also get more biochem based modules like the energetics of membranes and biosynthesis which I'm not sure is in medicine.

If your ultimate intentions are to do post-grad medicine then just pick which you you think is most interesting, you'll work harder and do better that way and PGM take people from a variety of scientific backgrounds.

[Cirsium]

As nicatre hints at, biomedical science is obviously a lot more human-centric. If you do biochemistry then there's plenty of e.g. plant biochemistry (i.e. the more complicated, interesting stuff ) If you're sort of set on doing medicine after anyway, then biomedicine would be the more useful degree, but biochemistry will get you just as far. (I.e. you're not going to be disadvantaged in applications by doing it, but there's more overlapping content in biomedicine). The other side of that is that if you go to a university that allows lots of 'open unit' study and has a large department then you may be able to specialise within a biochemistry degree so that you basically only cover human stuff, whereas obviously within biomedicine you won't be able to cover other areas of biochemistry.

[beckster824]

I think it really depends on the university as to whether there are many differences between biochem and biomed. I was torn between the two but i chose biochem because I felt that the course covered more areas. Also, if you want to do postgraduate medicine you don't necessarily have to do biomed

[Miss_KC]

Hello!

I've just been reading the most recent posts on this thread. I am more so inclined to do biochemistry because, as some of you have mentioned, it covers more topic areas. I would like to become a researcher in diabetes/stem cell treatment. Rather than studying biomedical science about the effect of medicine, biochemistry would be a wiser option for me right?

Highly appreciated if any graduates who have studied this could let me know what they think, ty!

[BLineDisaster]

It depends on the uni. As lots of people have said here.

I'm doing biomed and it has a lot of biochem in it. As someone said: biomed is about pathology and biochem is about molecular processes, yet, I have been taught both. Perhaps in not as much detail as biochem but I have the basics I need for extra reading.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my GT-I9300

[BLineDisaster]

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