The Student Room Group

Studying Biochemistry - how much chemistry is involved?

I am considering studying biochemistry, however I am a bit stuck as my biology has always been much stronger than my chemistry although I enjoy both a lot. How much chemistry is there in the course and how difficult is it, I understand this changes from uni to uni but reading course descriptions such as cell biology and introduction to genetics, there seems to be a lot of biology content :smile:. I would opt for biological sciences but I much prefer molecular biology and am not a big fan of ecology/zoology/evolution. Any help or advice from fellow applicants / undergraduates would be much appreciated!
Original post by CorianderDay
I am considering studying biochemistry, however I am a bit stuck as my biology has always been much stronger than my chemistry although I enjoy both a lot. How much chemistry is there in the course and how difficult is it, I understand this changes from uni to uni but reading course descriptions such as cell biology and introduction to genetics, there seems to be a lot of biology content :smile:. I would opt for biological sciences but I much prefer molecular biology and am not a big fan of ecology/zoology/evolution. Any help or advice from fellow applicants / undergraduates would be much appreciated!


I studied molecular biology for a year (only the final year) at Edinburgh and did some biochemistry courses and had friends who studied biochem as their main degree. I would say it's primarily a biology-based course, with the main chemistry bits being understanding protein structure and how that translates to function. So yes you'd need some basic knowledge of organic chemistry and stuff like polar/non-polar, acid/base, hydrogen bonds etc. Depending on the university, you may need to take actual chemistry courses in the earlier years but this shouldn't be too difficult.

From what you say your interests are, a biochemistry degree would be ideal. As would cell biology, molecular biology or genetics. One advantage of Edinburgh in this regard is that you can spend your first 2 years doing general biological science picking courses that you're interested in before choosing an honours programme.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you