Memorize 20 AAs?

[davidianstyle]

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Does the MCAT expect that you have the 20 common amino acids memorized?

 

[PsychEpathic]

Does the MCAT expect that you have the 20 common amino acids memorized?

I wouldn't waste my limited brain space in that way. I'll let you know after 6/13/08, .

 

[bluemonkey]

No. You do not have to know the specific R groups. You should, however, know the general structure of all aa's (Carboxy, amino, H, and R) as well as the general categories, acidic, basic, polar, and non-polar.

 

[davidianstyle]

No. You do not have to know the specific R groups. You should, however, know the general structure of all aa's (Carboxy, amino, H, and R) as well as the general categories, acidic, basic, polar, and non-polar.

Thanks, duly noted!

 

[mfrizzo3]

No

 

[DrJD]

Does the MCAT expect that you have the 20 common amino acids memorized?

I personally think you should memorize all of them and which group they fall into... THAT is IMPORTANT!!! They could ask questions about the response of a certain amino acid given acidic or basic situations... Know what a pI is and understand how to apply it...

You could have no questions on it or you could very well have 1 or 3... It isn't too hard to memorize, I just used mnemonics, a different one for each group... You don't need to memorize structure of the R group... know the general structure as above because sometimes you may need to identify the # of peptide bonds, or some other non-such... So no structure, know names and groups and what a pI is and how to use it... (You don't need to memorize the pI's they would be given to you...)

Good luck!

EDIT:
I guess truly my answer depends on what score you are shooting for... so let me ask... OP, what score are you aiming for?

EDIT again:
I guess I can just go ahead and give the break down... 31 or below don't worry about memorizing them... 31 to 33 probably should but if you are solid on everything probably won't need it... 33 or above, I'd say memorize them cause at that point every question counts...

 

[dd128]

IMO I'd say if you have the free time and have absolutely nothing else to memorize, then yes, but seriously, like someone else said, don't waste the brain power.

 

[pingouin]

I agree with not memorizing the specific 20, but being able to recognize the side chain as nonpolar vs polar, and if polar, uncharged, acidic, or basic. Basic organic chem should have covered how to distinguish those.

 

[Vihsadas]

I agree with not memorizing the specific 20, but being able to recognize the side chain as nonpolar vs polar, and if polar, uncharged, acidic, or basic. Basic organic chem should have covered how to distinguish those.

Totally agree with this too. You don't need to be able to recite them all. But if you see one on the exam you should be able to tell whether its non-polar/polar or basic/acidic.

 

[DrMattOglesby]

my personal mnemonics

Non-polar
GAVLIMP TP
"a guy named Gavin is limping out of the bathroom cause he has toilet paper on his shoe"
-glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, proline, tryptophan, phenylalanine

Polar
"SomeTimes Cats Try A Growl"
-serine, tryrosine, cysteine, threonine, asparagine, glutamine

Charged
"A Good Lawyer Aims High"
-Aspartate, Glutamate, Lysine, Arginine, Histidine

 

[iA-MD2013]

my personal mnemonics

Non-polar
GAVLIMP TP
"a guy named Gavin is limping out of the bathroom cause he toilet paper on his shoe"
-glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, proline, tryptophan, phenylalanine

Polar"SomeTimes Cats Try A Growl"
-serine, tryrosine, cysteine, asparagine, glutamine
Charged
"A Good Lawyer Aims High"
-Aspartate, Glutamate, Lysine, Arginine, Histidine

hahaha!!! did you come up with that? cuz it looks like it would be harder to come up with a mneumonic that elaborate than to actually memorize them!

 

[DrMattOglesby]

hahaha!!! did you come up with that? cuz it looks like it would be harder to come up with a mneumonic that elaborate than to actually memorize them!

LOL....actually i HAD to memorize them for a molecular biology course once!
soooo, i just looked at the first letter of each of them after i grouped them into their respective groups. then came up with the mnemonic.
yes, i know its a bit involved! but because of that, it will help me remember that much easier. for instance, i actually knew a guy back in middle school whose name was Gavin. Only Gavin i have ever known in my life...and i feel sorry for him cause every time i think of the nonpolar amino acids, i think of him walking out of the middle school bathroom with toilet paper on his shoe!
im sure the second mnemonic could use some work...but i just cant seem to forget it for whatever reason.
and i am actually proud of the charged amino acids mnemonic. i should trademark it.

 

[Mandek]

LOL....actually i HAD to memorize them for a molecular biology course once!
soooo, i just looked at the first letter of each of them after i grouped them into their respective groups. then came up with the mnemonic.
yes, i know its a bit involved! but because of that, it will help me remember that much easier. for instance, i actually knew a guy back in middle school whose name was Gavin. Only Gavin i have ever known in my life...and i feel sorry for him cause every time i think of the nonpolar amino acids, i think of him walking out of the middle school bathroom with toilet paper on his shoe!
im sure the second mnemonic could use some work...but i just cant seem to forget it for whatever reason.
and i am actually proud of the charged amino acids mnemonic. i should trademark it.

thats a good one. post it on mneuomic thread!

 

[MedStudentWanna]

thats a good one. post it on mneuomic thread!

Can someone bump the mnemonic thread?

 

[pingouin]

Can someone bump the mnemonic thread?

done

 

[MedStudentWanna]

Thanks!

 

[DrBowtie]

Just know a couple commonly asked ones. Glycine, Histidine, Cysteine.
Pimp Question: Why would these be asked?

 

[unsung]

I memorized'em. It honestly doesn't take that long. Just group them by acidic (the two ones with the acids in their name), basic (HAL), polar, and nonpolar.

What's interesting is how often that knowledge has helped during random passages for bio or o-chem... these are questions that don't actually require knowledge of the structures per say, but if you know'em, it just makes that question into a piece of cake, whereas if you didn't, you'd have to dig through the passage and think about it... which, I don't like to do. If you're real good at digging through passages and absorbing info fast, then probably you could get away with not doing it. But it is really helpful to just know the structures of the a.a.s cold.

 

[Kaustikos]

I memorized'em. It honestly doesn't take that long. Just group them by acidic (the two ones with the acids in their name), basic (HAL), polar, and nonpolar.

What's interesting is how often that knowledge has helped during random passages for bio or o-chem... these are questions that don't actually require knowledge of the structures per say, but if you know'em, it just makes that question into a piece of cake, whereas if you didn't, you'd have to dig through the passage and think about it... which, I don't like to do. If you're real good at digging through passages and absorbing info fast, then probably you could get away with not doing it. But it is really helpful to just know the structures of the a.a.s cold.

I agree. I already knwo more than half of the AA's by heart, the others requiring some brief looking over because of how similar they are. But basically, they're not difficult. It could be the major you had/courses you took as well. But basically, they're not difficult to memorize.

 

[seven87]

Nope, I didn't.

 

[smeagol]

Just know a couple commonly asked ones. Glycine, Histidine, Cysteine.
Pimp Question: Why would these be asked?

Glycine's alpha carbon is not chiral.

Cysteine for disulfide bonds.

I feel like there's a lot to say about Histidine. It's directly involved in binding the binding of iron in hemoglobin, it has a weird deprotonate-able side chain with a pKa of 6...

 

[acidgambit]

Something useful to remember is proline also has an atypical ring structure, usually causes a kink in the peptide chain

 

[DiverDoc]

I found it easy to memorize the structures. Took about 2 hours of focus and I had it nailed. I didnt study them for the MCAT though. Good ol biochemistry.

 

[nepatslvr]

I found it easy to memorize the structures. Took about 2 hours of focus and I had it nailed. I didnt study them for the MCAT though. Good ol biochemistry.

I agree. They're really not that hard to memorize, and if you're planning on taking biochem you're probably going to have to do it anyway so why not now? I memorized them before the mcat and honestly at this point I can't remember if it actually helped, but it made me feel really confident with the subject and like I could handle any amino acid question thrown my way (maybe not reality, but hey, on the mcat half the battle is just feeling comfortable with stuff and not freaking yourself out!) Anyway, for what it's worth, I'm glad I did it.

 

[DrBowtie]

Glycine's alpha carbon is not chiral.

Cysteine for disulfide bonds.

I feel like there's a lot to say about Histidine. It's directly involved in binding the binding of iron in hemoglobin, it has a weird deprotonate-able side chain with a pKa of 6...

Ha...It was a while since I knew these and the poster below you made me realize I meant proline with its ring structure..not histidine. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[unsung]

I agree. I already knwo more than half of the AA's by heart, the others requiring some brief looking over because of how similar they are. But basically, they're not difficult. It could be the major you had/courses you took as well. But basically, they're not difficult to memorize.

Yeah, I liked o-chem a lot, so that's helped me be more comfortable with the structures. The ones I find difficult are histidine and tryptophan, for whatever reason.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I didn't memorize them but agree that it's good to know basic structure and different side groups. I know it's too far off to think about for you guys, but you'll also need to know this stuff for your biochem class in medical school and for the USMLE Step 1. So, eh, even if you learn it and don't need it for the MCAT, it's not wasted knowledge.