S104 - Course materials arrive (eek...)

Well the package was delayed a day by the weather and the fact that its nearly Christmas, but my course materials for S104 have arrived.

First thing to notice is that the box has been treated kindly by the courier, NOT.

It looks like someone has been playing football with it. In fact the only reason I don't think this is true is that it is quite heavy (the shipping label states 7.25KG).


Opening the box up the first thing in the pile is the home practical kit.

Amazingly nothing appears to be broken except for the plastic lid of the kit.
Inside is a couple of fossils (my guess is that they are reproductions), some rock samples, a magnifying lens, a diffraction grating (at least I think it is) and some Universal Indicator paper.

Next out of the box is a case containing 2 DVDs. This has also enjoyed some tlc from the courier and so the case is broken, fortunately neither DVD is damaged.

Then there are a couple of booklets (The Course Guide and Course Glossary) a very crumpled PT3 form (engage sinking feeling re. posting TMAs) and the course checklist.

Finally there are 8 (yes thats eight) course books (which make up the weight).

Im keen to start so will start looking through the Course Guide this weekend although the course doesn't start until the end of January.

SK185 - ECA

I found the ECA for this course to be a great revision aid.

I wrote it Microsoft Word 2010 and used ACD/Labs ChemSketch for the chemical diagrams. This is a freeware program that has limits on the size of the molecule you can represent but i didn't reach this limit during the ECA.

S104 - Signed up

Took the plunge and signed up for S104 Exploring Science.

Ive read a couple of blog entries on this as well as the Student Reviews posted on the above site and it looks to be a very interesting, if heavy going course.

Im really looking forward to this course and can't wait to get started.

The goal posts are a'changing

It looks like the Open University are retiring the B26 Molecular Science degree as well as several of the other specific science degrees (such as Physical Science).

In its place they are presenting B64 Natural Sciences (which is a bit confusing as they already do a Natural Sciences degree which is being replaced).

The new degree allows you to specialise in a particular traditional science, which in my case will be chemistry and analytical sciences, but these will only be listed as a diploma supplement.


Im a bit miffed by this. I understand why the Open University do this but I think that it devalues the degree somewhat.

Oh well...
I

SK185 - Molecular Model Kit

OK, i'll admit that I was a little excited about actually getting a kit with this course. The last kit I got was a programming board for T223 back in 1998 and it really made me feel like a proper student.

The kit comes in a plastic case which is very handy for keeping everything together, although it would have been nice to have a catch on it to stop the lid from inadvertently coming off in my bag.

The contents of the box are shown above.

• The white balls have 1 hole in them and are used to represent hydrogen.
• The black balls have 4 holes in them and are used to represent carbon.
• The blue balls have 4 holes in them and are used to represent nitrogen.
• The yellow balls have 2 holes in them and are used to represent sulfur.
• The red balls have 2 holes in them and are used to represent oxygen.
• The green balls have 2 holes in them and are used to represent other atoms.
• The grey rods represent bonds.
• The purple rods are longer and are used to create double bonds.

The piece of cream plastic in the middle of the picture is used to separate bonds from the atoms as the grey bonds are quite short and the holes in the atoms are very tight.


The first thing you notice is that it is very difficult to get a bond to fit into a hole. Once they have been fitted a couple of times they fit in much easier. The same for when you have to take a molecule apart, which leads to very sore fingers very quickly. However once the kit has been broken in it is much easier to use.


Overall I love this kit. Its easy to use and makes visualising structures very easy.

SK185 - Course Book (Part 2)

6. From herbal remedies to asthma drugs.
Chapter 6 is another interesting one. It starts by comparing the stereoisomers ephedrine and pseudoephedrine to introduce the concept of chiral molecules. Also introduced are the 'flying-wedge' notation for representing 3-dimensional shapes in 2 dimensions. The chapter then looks at molecules that have similar groups to ephedrine to try and identify a molecule that is more specific in treating asthma. Finally the chapter looks at two drugs used in the treatment of asthma, salbutamol and salmetrol, both of which were created using the selectivity information discussed in the chapter.

This chapter makes extensive use of the molecular modelling kit. It is much easier to identify the chiral centre of a molecule if it is modelled in 3d than by looking at a 2d drawing.

7. Captopril - a landmark in drug design.
This chapter looks at captopril, a drug for treating hypertension (high blood pressure) and how it was developed. Rather than taking an existing substance and modifying it to work better, captopril was designed by looking at the enzyme that needed to be 'blocked' and then creating a chemical that binds to the appropriate receptor.

This chapter looks at drug development following a different path to the usual methods. It also introduces 'relative binding strength' as a tool for determining which molecule will more readily bind.

8. War on bacteria - antiseptics, disinfectants and antibiotics.
This is a large chapter covering a massive subject. It starts with a brief look at good bacteria but swiftly moves onto the harmful kind that we want to destroy. The chapter then looks at substances such as phenol, coal-tar and carbolic acid, that kill bacteria by compromising the cell wall. We then move onto modern antibacterial drugs such as penicillin which stop the bacteria from multiplying, as well as some of the ways in which bacteria have grown resistant to these drugs.

Another fascinating chapter covering quite a large field. This chapter pulled chemical ideas developed earlier in the course but didn't introduce any new concepts.

9. Drugs for viruses.
The penultimate chapter in the book looks at viruses. It starts by looking at the influenza virus, going through some of the pandemics of the last 100 years before looking at the structure of the actual virus. At this point computer chemistry is briefly covered as a means of modelling complex interactions quickly. The chapter finishes with a couple of potential influenza treatments.

This is a short but topical chapter in light of the swine flu outbreak of 2009/10. I found it an interesting read that completed the story nicely.

10.Whatever next.
The final chapter briefly looks at what the future holds for medical science.

SK185 - Course Book (Part 1)

Ive had a good look through the course book and I have to say that i'm very impressed.

For a short course the OU have gone to a lot of trouble to produce a really nice book thats easy to follow.

The book is 167 pages long and is divided into 10 chapters as follows:-


1. What's behind it all?
A gentle introduction to the course, including an overview of drug development and testing as well how chemists name structures. It includes a brief foray into the modelling kit (more on this later) as well as atomic structure and some bonding theory.

Nothing too taxing. In fact a lot of the information I found I could recall from my earlier study, which is a good sign. One revelation is that sulphur is now called sulfur!! This happened in 1992 so im amazed that I always knew is as sulphur.

2. Ouch - that hurts!
This chapter briefly covers why we feel pain before moving onto that wonder drug, aspirin and how it works. There is more modelling activities using the kit as well as some additional chemistry involving functional groups, esterification and isomerisation.

Another revision chapter for me, at least from the chemistry side of things. I found the aspirin story fascinating and hope that the rest of the course is of this quality.

3. Enzymes - nature's facilitators.
Chapter 3 covers how enzymes are used as biological catalysts to speed up reactions and what they are mad of. it also covers intramolecular and intermolecular attractive forces including London forces (which I knew as van der Waals forces).

An interesting chapter covering a topic ive not had much experience of in the past. The section on attractive forces was revision but the rest was new.

4. The Incas, Coca-Cola and a trip to the dentist.
This chapter introduces local anaesthetics to the mix. It starts with coca leaves and the Incas, passing through Coca-Cola and cocaine before arriving at the modern local anaesthetics used in dentistry. Along the way we are introduced to cyclic bonding arrangements and the importance of distance between certain atoms in determining how active they are.

There is not a great deal of additional chemistry introduced in this chapter but a lot of fascinating biology. The modelling kit is becoming more useful as we progress into more complicated molecules, especially in demonstrating how two different molecules can be biologically similar. The section on how local anaesthetics work was much more interesting than I thought it would be.

5. General anaesthetics.
A logical progression from local anaesthetics, this is quite a short chapter covering four general anaesthetics (nitrous oxide, chloroform, ether and halothane). There is also a section on Curare and how molecules derived from its structure are used during operations as muscle relaxants.

The main thing to take away from this chapter is how the polarity of a molecule affects its ability to be used in the human body. General anaesthetics work on the brain so they must pass the blood - brain barrier and as the brain is a non-polar medium (unlike the blood) these molecules must be exhibit some form on non-polar behaviour but to dissolve in blood the molecule must also have some polarity.


I will cover chapters 6 - 10 in a later post...

SK185 - Course Material - First thoughts

Well the course material has finally arrived. One thing I really like about Open University books is that they are of a very high quality, and this is no exception.

In the package is:-

• The Course Study Guide
• The Science Short Course Assessment Handbook 2010
• The 'Where to start' document

• The course book

• The Molecular modelling kit in a plastic container



I'll post more once i've had a chance to look through it all.