BR bio: enzyme chapter

epsilonprodigy · Apr 14, 2011

So I've been mainly using TPRH for bio content and BR bio for passages. I read the TPRH enzyme/metabolism chapter and got all of the in-text questions correct as I was going. So then I flip through BR's analogous chapter to compare. Looks like they go WAY in dept about a lot of crazy math having to do with enzyme kinetics and the Lineweaver-Burk plot. Needless to say, those passages were pretty beyond me because I hadn't studied it. I muddled through and did OK-ish but didn't feel I had a good understanding (lots of POE and deductive reasoning, not much "oh, I know why this is right", etc.) Is there any reason to think that reading the BR bio books in general would be a worthwhile use of time? I usually mainly focus on TPRH and then when I go back to do the second third of the passages, I'll review my notes and thumb through BR just to fill in gaps. It seems that people prefer TPRH bio for content though, just wondered why this is... is it because BR bio is TOO in-depth and goes off on tangents?

Nogo · Apr 14, 2011

I'd like to know the answer too. I've read all of TPRH biology and I'm reading BR biology. It seems like there's wayyy too much math involved in BR....

ridethecliche · Apr 14, 2011

Lineweaver-Burke, etc, is biochemistry. Enzyme Kinetics is biochemistry.

You should be able to intuit what happens when you raise enzyme conc, substrate conc, etc, when other things are held constant. Knowing the michaelas-menton kinetics and understanding the relationship between Km and Vmax are helpful to answering these questions but not necessary.

The chances of this showing up in a discrete are slim, but it could show up in a passage. Of course, they'd have to explain everything to you in the passage because this is not expected knowledge.

http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/E/EnzymeKinetics.html

Rabolisk · Apr 15, 2011

The link provided by our good friend is more than enough for the MCAT. With enzymes, what you need to know is what they are and how they function, and how their activity is regulated. Competitive and noncompetitive inhibition, and the effect of substrate concentration on enzyme activity is important. However, I don't believe that MM-Kinetics, Km, Vmax, and the Lineweaver-Burke plots are required background knowledge. For one, I didn't know them until I took biochemistry after I had already taken the MCAT.

thomasfx10 · Apr 15, 2011

If you look at SN2ed 3 month study which uses BR in all subject areas Except Bio. We use EK bio material for subject matter and BR passages for only the practice test. The reason for what I understand is BR gets too deep.

That said, use BR bio for only practice passages and not subject matter.

Etorphine · Apr 16, 2011

I had to memorize all those LWB hardcore calculations for class, and now that this thread popped up I realized I don't remember any of it. Why do I pay for college again?

BR bio: enzyme chapter

epsilonprodigy

Physicist Enough

Nogo

Full Member

ridethecliche

Meep Meep Meep

Rabolisk

Full Member

thomasfx10

Medical Student

Etorphine

Full Member

Similar threads