CHEM 4820
General Biochemistry II
Biochemistry explores the chemistry of life processes at the molecular level. This course is the second semester of a two-semester General Biochemistry sequence. The first semester of the Biochemistry sequence covered the basics of the topic with an emphasis on the structures, functions, and interactions of biomolecules including proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids. This second semester course will emphasize metabolism, the biosynthetic (anabolism) and degradation (catabolism) pathways that provide the energy of life and define the molecules associated with healthy and disease states.
Instructors
Reviews
I took biochem with Dr. Patti a few years ago. He is a great lecturer, but I felt more than slightly deceived when I realized in graduate school that all of his lecture material and figures are adapted verbatim from a different biochem textbook (Lehninger) without attribution
6/2/2026
10+ hrs/week
Genuinely cannot imagine a worse class.
7/6/2024
8-10 hrs/week
Just like biochem 1 but even less resources. No study guides or practice exams provided. TA office hours very helpful but professors are not.
6/21/2024
Explains little in class, often reading verbatim off slides, consistently ended lecture 15-20 minutes early, and communicated nothing. Test and problem set phrasing was unclear and misleading. Requires a ridiculous amount of self-teaching and studying to succeed. Unless the profs teaching BIO482 change, avoid this class if your major permits.
5/9/2024
Explains little in class, often reading verbatim off slides, consistently ended lecture 15-20 minutes early, and communicated nothing. Test and problem set phrasing was unclear and misleading.\nRequires a ridiculous amount of self-teaching and studying to succeed.\n\nUnless the profs teaching BIO482 change, avoid this class if your major permits.
5/9/2024
Just finished my 2nd yr of med school. I can't emphasize enough how influential Prof Patti's class has been. The guy has a truly amazing mind. Learning how he organizes metabolism is worth taking his class alone, plus he gives the best lectures. Keep your notes. You won't find the material in any textbook, at least not in such a logical format.
8/1/2022
If you want to experience the hell of biochemistry, just come and take Gary's class. He is the most awful lecturer I have ever seen. He is good at being a hypocrite smiling to everyone but also degrading everyone in front of other professors. As known the star of Chemistry Department, Gary even does not give a sht to other faculties.
7/14/2022
Dr. Patti gives good lectures but clearly doesn't like interacting with students, he's never available. He also doesn't provide a clear rubric for grading, and undergrad and grad students in the class receive wildly different grades for the same work. After reading a few of his papers it seems like he just dumbs down stuff he wrote the book on.
1/12/2021
Can't say enough about Dr. Patti- I love this man. Best professor at WashU. His lectures are engaging and clear. His tests and quizzes are hard but fair. He demands you learn the material and not just memorize it. He cares deeply about the subject and his students, and is happy to help students outside of class. Don't miss out on taking his class!
5/8/2019
Taking this class was the best decision I made in college.
6/24/2017
Best class and best prof I had at wu, by a lot. Made me realize that most classes at wu are just pure memorization. Take this class if you really want to learn science. I actually took biochm 2 for credit twice. Once w/ Patti and once w/ someone else. They let you because they know how diff Patti does it. Not even close-Patti is the absolte best.
5/10/2017
Had heard great things about this class. It's more than lived up to the reputation. Single most influential class I have taken. Makes a lot of stuff you learn in undergrad click for the first time. All science majors should definitely take it.
5/1/2017
If you're premed, definitely take this class, because it makes metabolism in med school SO much easier. Dr Patti integrates biochem with basic pathology (diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, etc) in a way that makes you really THINK, and completely changed the way I approached science. Go to office hours with q's- he's a delight to talk to and be around
2/15/2017
Everyone told me to take this class because "Pattie is so amazing"...I don't see it. He is rather rude, and he does not like interacting with students. The grading on the weekly quizes is arbitrary. He gets irritated when students ask questions.
2/3/2017
Truly an amazing class and an incredible professor. Having just finished biochem in med school, at some point I only used his old notes for metabolism instead of books or notes from med school. The way he teaches it is honestly brilliant and makes it very intuitive. Hard work, but by far the most rewarding class I took at WU!!
11/23/2016
This was probably my second favorite class, behind Chem 111. Patti is wicked smart, and he is a serious researcher. He tries very hard to bring the material, which is pretty much his research, down to a level we can understand. I like the material, I just wish he cared more about all of the students, not just the star students.
11/3/2016
Dr. Patti has had the single most significant impact on shaping my life. I'd be following a very different path had I not taken his class.
5/12/2016
I'm now in my first year of medical school. So far, this class has been the most helpful in preparing me out of those I took in undergrad.
10/14/2015
Dont take Krezel. He's boring and you won't learn anything. If you only need 1 semester of biochem, take Patti. He will waive the first semester pre-req. I dropped Krezel and still did well with patti.
8/15/2015