Study Biochemistry Online: 6 Best Online Biochemistry Courses & Classes [Updated March 2023]

About the course 

We are starting our top online biochemistry courses list with a reputed course offered by an equally reputed institute Harvard. In this course, you will explore life molecules, beginning at the simplistic building blocks and culminating in all complicated metabolism. Over 2,60,000 students have enrolled for this course.

In this online biochem course on edX, Harvard has integrated an introduction to the macromolecules structure and a biochemical approach towards understanding cellular function. Going down the lane, your educator will address protein function, including the characterization of primary metabolic pathways and their interconnection into tightly regulated networks, enzyme kinetics, and manipulation of enzymes and the path with drugs or mutations.

Further, there is an in-depth analysis of simple red blood cells to more complicated issues, such as the liver and muscles. These will be used as a foundation as you progress toward discussing the more complicated concepts, such as metabolic complexity. Through this best online biochemistry course, you will also develop analytical and problem-solving skills, which involve applying life science.

What will you learn from this biochem course? 

As one of the top-rated online biochemistry courses, this course has a lot for you to learn. Some of the things that this course will teach you are:

1. The function and the structure of the chemical building blocks of life.
2. The primary metabolic pathways, which power cells.
3. Navigating protein structure via the employment of PyMOL.
4. The primary role of enzymes in catalyzing life reactions.
5. The delicate mechanisms, which regulate cellular metabolism.
6. The integration of the biochemical processes in relation to the whole organisms, tissues, and cells.

It is a 15-week course wherein you study biochemistry online. The course requires an effort of four to six hours every week. Even though it is a free online biochem course, you will have to bear a small fee if you want the certificate. This is an official and a verified instructor-signed certificate, which comes with the institution's logo that is an authentication of your achievement and betters your chances of landing a job. This is a shareable certificate. So, you can download the certificate. Then, you can either print it and include your resume or CV or directly share it on your LinkedIn. These intermediate-level self-paced online biochemistry classes are in English.

What do you need before enrolling in this course? 

For taking this best online biochemistry course, you will have to take two courses in advance. These are both introductory online biochemistry courses and will set you a base for this intermediate-level course.

1. College-level Introductory Biology
2. College-level Introductory General Chemistry, including basic Organic Chemistry

About the course 

Next in line for the online biochemistry courses is again a course available on edX. With this MIT course, you will be able to accentuate your data analysis skills and scientific thinking, owing to its in-depth adventure via biochemistry.

Are you planning to study in a STEM field or prepare for your medical school entrance exam? Do you intend on becoming a research scientist or take a step ahead in your career and venture into the biochemistry industry? Or perhaps you just wish to comprehend the chemical reactions, which govern our lives.

In this course, you will study biochemistry online with Professor Yaffe, a practicing surgeon and a professor, as he takes you through the science, which has inspired many, many students, researchers, and doctors alike.

Through this course, MIT professors have drafted 7.05x Biochemistry, wherein the particular focus is on:

1. Building your scientific thinking schools, which includes designing experiments, articulating hypotheses, interpreting data, and performing thought experiments.
2. Employing the data based on real scientific experiments and highlighting their scientific processes.
3. Asserting that biology is an active field, which undergoes a change every day by way of the MIT examples and the other relevant research, not just the static information in or from a textbook.
4. Implementing what's learned in the course design.
5. Putting across the genuine MIT firehose experience
6. Visualizing the real molecular structures with PyMOL for a better comprehension of mechanism and function.
7. Translating the biochemistry topics to medicine and disease.
8. Appreciating biochemistry's quantitative aspects and practicing the same with MATLAB.

With these online biochemistry classes, MIT also offers a robust and thorough means of accrediting the edX learners once they grasp the understanding of the MITx biochemistry content after qualifying their much-hyped MIT x 7.05x Biochemistry Competency Exam. It is a challenging option and is available only to the students who register for MIT's verified-certificate track, and the significant chunk of the assessment grade, which counts towards your MIT certificate, is the completion of this exam.  

What you get with this best online biochemistry course is a verified and an official instructor-signed shareable certificate. This is a kind of verification of the achievement that betters your job prospects.

It is a 12-week self-paced intermediate course that will require three to six hours every week. You can watch the course in English. Please bear in mind; it is an instructor-led course, which runs on a schedule.

What will you learn? 

These online biochemistry classes are quite informative. So, some of the things that this course will teach you are listed below:

1. Applying the scientific method of pursuing the research questions.
2. Analysis of the protein purification schemes.
3. The methods used by the scientists in determining the protein structure.
4. How the Bohr effect, allostery, and the structure influence hemoglobin function.
5. Interpretation of the plot behaviors, graphs, and the calculation of the constants associated with the enzyme functions.
6. The role of G proteins in signaling.
7. Differentiation in the channels, transporters, and pumps in the regulation of the molecule transfer across the membranes.

Syllabus 

As one of the top-liked online biochemistry courses, this one has a diverse syllabus, which comprises:

1. Introduction to Biochemistry; pH and Buffers
2. Amino Acids and Proteins
3. Protein Purification
4. Protein Structure
5. Protein Folding
6. Hemoglobin and Allostery
7. Hemoglobin and the Bohr Effect
8. Enzyme Chemistry
9. Enzyme as Catalysts
10. Enzyme Kinetics
11. Membranes, Channels, Transporters, and Pumps
12. Blood Clotting
13. Signal Transduction

What do you need? 

As it is an intermediate level course, there are three different online biochemistry courses that you may take before taking this one. These include:

1. Undergraduate Introductory Biology (Biochemistry And Molecular Biology);
2. Undergraduate Introductory Chemistry;
3. Undergraduate Organic Chemistry I (Chemical Structures And Biological Mechanisms)

About the course 

At number third in our top online biochemistry courses is a FutureLearn course, wherein you, along with your mentor, will explore the effect of biochemistry on health and bioenergy. Further, the instructor will also help you understand the reason behind the high demand for biochem graduates.

This online biochem course has a rating of 4.7 and is clearly one of the most popular 100% online courses. It is a three-week course and you can join it for free. You need a weekly effort of three-hours for the successful completion of the course.  

Biochemistry is the study that brings together all the sciences to study the physical and chemical processes that happen in a living being. In a true sense, it is the science of life. Being a scientific discipline, biochemistry has influenced all the life science areas, and it is possibly why the demand for biochemists is so high in the market.   

With this free online biochem course, the educators will outline the history and the background of biochemistry and its modern impact on life science. For someone who enjoys chemistry and biology at school and wanting to work in the field, this can be one of the top online biochemistry courses.

What will you learn from these online biochemistry classes? 

This course has a lot for you to learn. You will study with the biochemist experts from UEA and beyond. Some of the things that this course will teach you are:

1. Understanding how biochemistry brings together natural science to comprehend the living system's chemical basis.
2. Describing the scientists and the events, which have played a pivotal role during biochemistry's historical development.
3. Describing the seminal experiments, which led to the key advances in biochemical knowledge.
4. Discussing the areas where biochemistry will play a pivotal role in future scientific advances, such as synthetic biology, pharmaceuticals, and bioenergy.
5. Recognizing the variety of careers and job opportunities, which come your way once you graduate with a biochemistry degree.

All through this course wherein, you study biochemistry online, you will learn with an esteemed staff from the UEA's Schools of Biological Sciences and Chemistry. They will help you discover how biochemistry is underpinning the developments in the life sciences at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Norwich Research Park. Further, through this course, you will also get a phenomenal chance to watch the interviews with people who employ biochemistry in a plethora of careers.

Who should take up this course? 

For students between the ages of 15 and 19 who are studying chemistry and biology and are planning to take up biochemistry further in life, this is one of the most valuable online biochemistry courses.  

What do you need? 

To take this course, you do not need any formal qualifications. In this course, you will find a clear explanation of all the requisite material. This material is easy to comprehend for all students who have a basic interest and a background knowledge in biology and chemistry.

About the course 

In these online biochemistry classes, you will cover all the basics of cell biology (composition and biochemistry). Firstly, the tutor will introduce you to the life organizations' levels and the variety of different kinds of organisms. Further, you will study the biological molecule structure and the molecular forces, which go into forming these molecules. Moving forward, you will learn about the function and the general structure of the nucleic acids, lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. Once you are through with the knowledge of all the primary macromolecules groups, your mentor will take the course forward.

In the following online biochemistry classes, you will learn about the interaction between the macromolecules groups within the cell, involving biochemical reactions, metabolism, ATP as the energy currency, enzymes, and Gibbs free energy.

Further, the tutor will give an overview of the cellular mechanisms for extracting the energy from glucose or related sugar, and briefly outlining glycolysis as a mechanism of yielding ATP, and discussing the pyruvate fate yielded in glycolysis under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Next, your educator will take you through the general ideas of both cyclic and non-cyclic photophosphorylation. Following that, you will learn how these two processes are employed by our body cells to generate the NADPH and ATP, which is necessary for Calvin Cycle in photosynthesis.

In the next few online biochemistry classes, you will learn about the cell's molecular biology and chemical composition and study the basic biological macromolecules components. More so, you will learn to identify the forces, which act in the biological systems, such as covalent bonds, hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, hydrophobicity, and van der Waal's forces.

You will draw a generic amino acid and then categorize all of the twenty amino acids aptly based on the side chain's nature. Further, you will also apply the thermodynamics law to biological reactions.

Additionally, you will understand the Gibbs free energy, and assess its change associated with a biochemical reaction, and further examine both spontaneous and non-spontaneous reactions. Towards the end of these online biochemistry classes, you will become familiar with the various organization levels and the differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

You will also understand the properties and the function and structure of the primary macromolecule groups, such as phospholipids, lipids, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and proteins. More so, through this course, you will become familiar with the primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary protein structure levels and know the kind of forces and bonds that stabilize every level. Furthermore, you will understand the impact of the amino acid substitution on the protein's general function and structure. You will also know how ATP provides the energy for supporting cellular work.

Lastly, in this course wherein you study biochemistry online, you will get a more in-depth understanding of the reactions in photosynthesis and cellular respiration and, when they occur, and why they are so important. You will also know and understand the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

About the course 

At number five in our online biochemistry courses list is a course by UC San Diego. In this course, you will study life at the molecular and atomic levels. Further, you will learn the biomolecules' four classes. Biomolecules are the building blocks of all living organisms. These include nucleic acids, lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates.

Further, in these online biochemistry classes, you will study how the bioenergy is stored and the manner in which it is harvested from the food sources. Lastly, you will also learn how the genetic information preserved in the DNA form orchestrates the cell function via the translation and transcription processes. You might also want to brush up your knowledge in bioinformatics to understand the complexities of information stored in a cell.

Who should take this course? 

For the students who have not taken any biochemistry course but have an interest in the area, and the students who have taken up the biochemistry course but need some brushing up on the fundamentals, this is one of the most-preferred online biochemistry courses.

What do you need?

For understanding this course, you will require a rudimentary knowledge of biology and chemistry.

What will you learn? 

Through the online biochemistry classes, your mentor will cover the following topics:

1. Atoms; Life; Water
2. Protein Composition and Structure
3. Concepts and Kinetics of Enzymes
4. Hemoglobin, Carbohydrates, and Lipids
5. Membranes, Signal Transduction, and Digestion
6. Metabolism, Glycolysis, and Acetate
7. The Citric Acid Cycle and Oxidative Phosphorylation
8. Nucleic Acid Structure and DNA Replication
9. RNA synthesis, processing, and regulation
10. Protein synthesis

About the course 

Last on our list for the top online biochemistry courses is the CHEM 1005 course. It is a four-credit online, lecture-only medical biochemistry course, wherein the primary focus is on human medical biochemistry.

With this course, you will work with your educator to learn the core biochemistry concepts, which apply to human health and disease. Further, the educator will also give you several examples, which support the claim. Following this, you will be able to analyze and study the most prevalent biochemistry in medical literature. Next, these basics will form the base of further learning in health sciences and biochemistry.

It is a self-paced course, and you will have to complete it with a span of 16-weeks. So, why are you still thinking? Join right away. 

Learning outcomes of this course 

Upon successfully taking this course, you will be able to:

1. Evaluate the manner in which the body enzymes trigger a chemical reaction and the need for the vitamins and the metabolic cofactors in these reactions.
2. Further, you will see an interconnection between the enzyme activities and concentrations and its clinical diagnosis implication.
3. Next, you will examine the various mechanisms via which the body hormones trigger and alter the metabolic pathways, thereby enabling homeostasis within the body.
4. The educator will also describe to you the carbohydrate's (fructose, galactose, and glucose) metabolism and their function in producing the ATP for the cell.
5. The tutor will also help you understand the lipid metabolism, storage, and transport in both fasted and fed conditions.
6. You will also be able to relate how amino acids employ the protein synthesis processes, precursors for the synthesis of necessary compounds, and substrates for glucose production. It will help study the urea cycle's impact in coordinating nitrogen disposal and amino acid catabolism.
7. There will also be a descriptive analysis of the synthesis of nucleotides from the carbon donors and the manner in which the process is combined with nitrogen metabolism and DNA synthesis.
8. Lastly, you will learn to interpret the role of the metabolism of lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates in normal physiological conditions, and the changes in the disease processes.  

What do you need? 

To take up this course, you may want to take a few other online biochemistry courses. These are the prerequisites and are suggested to be taken before enrolment in the course. It includes:

1. One semester of college-level biology (BIOL 1010)
2. Two semesters of college-level general chemistry (CHEM 1010 and CHEM 1011)
3. One semester of college-level organic chemistry (CHEM 1020)

How do the exams work? 

In this course, all of the exams happen online. Most of the exams are conducted online via ProctorU. To know about the instructions in detail or to take the course, you will have to browse through the official UNE Online's ProctorU site.

How do the labs work? 

It is a lecture-only course. So, the educator will not provide you with any associated lab component for taking this course.