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I am here to answer the question in the title. I completed the full TBR Biology 2011 and cross referenced it with new Kaplan Biochem book to see if it was sufficient. I know lots of people are wondering if just using old TBR biology is good enough for Biochem studying.
The short answer is YES. Old TBR biology material worked extremely well for all the biochem subjects. It covered almost everything and in the amazing way that TBR does all its material.
However, there were small differences and maybe some slight holes, which I cover chapter by chapter here. Basically, I suggest you use TBR biology material and then supplement it with reviewing these subjects afterwards. (Kaplan ch1, 2, and 8 were covered perfectly).
Kaplan Ch3 : Does a better job of covering motor proteins and CAMs. Also it emphasizes differences in protein Assays you may not have gotten from TBR.
Kaplan Ch4 : TBR covered it all except TBR didn't discuss common disaccharides as much. Basically, it may just be helpful to memorize exactly what sucrose, maltose, and lactose are, which Kaplan wants you to do.
Kaplan Ch5 : Kaplan actually discussed the functions between fat-soluble vitamins and the deficiencies of each. TBR didn't cover this precisely (Basically, what do Vit K, vit A, vit D, and vit E do? And what happens when you have a deficiency?)
Kaplan Ch6 : Does a better job of discussing differences in Prok/Euk replication. It makes the differences black and white, whereas TBR kind of blurs the two together. Also kaplan spends some time talking about Telomeres and Telomerase, which I think are important.
Kaplan Ch7: Better distinction between Prok/Euk transcription and translation. Also it goes into more detail about the spliceosome and lariat structure that TBR kind of skims over.
Kaplan Ch9 : This is a good one to go over in its entirety simply because glycolysis is such an important topic in Biochem and it can't hurt to double down. TBR hits it real hard with a ton of info, but Kaplan focuses on extra details like Glut2 vs Glut4, Glucosekinase vs hexokinase, etc.
Kaplan Ch10: Heavier emphasis on different enzymes and memorizing them all whereas TBR focuses on conceptualizing the big picture.
Kaplan Ch11 : Kaplan goes in depth on Cholesterol metabolism, which I don't recall being specifically focused on in TBR. Also it emphasizes the differences between lipolipase and hormone-sensitive lipase.
Kaplan Ch12 : I would do this whole chapter. TBR does a great job of discussing metabolism in all its parts and does cover all this information. But Kaplan just straight up tells you exactly all the different metabolism changes that occur in response to hormones (Ex: increased insulin does "A in the muscles" "B in the bones" "C in adipocytes" and "D to blood levels"). It's good to just see it all plainly written in one place and these sort of big picture, "What metabolic changes occur when X increases" are pretty popular on the MCAT I think. TBR does cover it all, but its sort of spread out and covered by so much detail and information that you may want to review it in black in white "this does this" format.
Hope this helps. If anyone else used old TBR biology, would you agree?
The short answer is YES. Old TBR biology material worked extremely well for all the biochem subjects. It covered almost everything and in the amazing way that TBR does all its material.
However, there were small differences and maybe some slight holes, which I cover chapter by chapter here. Basically, I suggest you use TBR biology material and then supplement it with reviewing these subjects afterwards. (Kaplan ch1, 2, and 8 were covered perfectly).
Kaplan Ch3 : Does a better job of covering motor proteins and CAMs. Also it emphasizes differences in protein Assays you may not have gotten from TBR.
Kaplan Ch4 : TBR covered it all except TBR didn't discuss common disaccharides as much. Basically, it may just be helpful to memorize exactly what sucrose, maltose, and lactose are, which Kaplan wants you to do.
Kaplan Ch5 : Kaplan actually discussed the functions between fat-soluble vitamins and the deficiencies of each. TBR didn't cover this precisely (Basically, what do Vit K, vit A, vit D, and vit E do? And what happens when you have a deficiency?)
Kaplan Ch6 : Does a better job of discussing differences in Prok/Euk replication. It makes the differences black and white, whereas TBR kind of blurs the two together. Also kaplan spends some time talking about Telomeres and Telomerase, which I think are important.
Kaplan Ch7: Better distinction between Prok/Euk transcription and translation. Also it goes into more detail about the spliceosome and lariat structure that TBR kind of skims over.
Kaplan Ch9 : This is a good one to go over in its entirety simply because glycolysis is such an important topic in Biochem and it can't hurt to double down. TBR hits it real hard with a ton of info, but Kaplan focuses on extra details like Glut2 vs Glut4, Glucosekinase vs hexokinase, etc.
Kaplan Ch10: Heavier emphasis on different enzymes and memorizing them all whereas TBR focuses on conceptualizing the big picture.
Kaplan Ch11 : Kaplan goes in depth on Cholesterol metabolism, which I don't recall being specifically focused on in TBR. Also it emphasizes the differences between lipolipase and hormone-sensitive lipase.
Kaplan Ch12 : I would do this whole chapter. TBR does a great job of discussing metabolism in all its parts and does cover all this information. But Kaplan just straight up tells you exactly all the different metabolism changes that occur in response to hormones (Ex: increased insulin does "A in the muscles" "B in the bones" "C in adipocytes" and "D to blood levels"). It's good to just see it all plainly written in one place and these sort of big picture, "What metabolic changes occur when X increases" are pretty popular on the MCAT I think. TBR does cover it all, but its sort of spread out and covered by so much detail and information that you may want to review it in black in white "this does this" format.
Hope this helps. If anyone else used old TBR biology, would you agree?
