Biochemistry through cartoons — Understanding Enzymes

Abstract

Biochemistry is one of the most interesting scientific disciplines because it deals with all the phenomena which are the results of the 'games 'l played by molecules inside the living system. On the other hand, the complexity of these games which are played simultaneously, makes this discipline the most difficult as well. 'Spectators' may get confused in understanding the story, particularly if they are not fully aware of these games. The responsibility of a biochemist/teacher is to give a clear picture of the subject to the learners. The teaching activities of biochemists are mainly reflected by the re- collection of their own experiences as students and intuitive perceptions of what they should do. Understand- ing biochemistry is rather a difficult job for the beginners who have just entered the field. Sometimes, problems arise due to the difference in the teaching methodologies adopted by two biochemists -- and which can best be judged by the learners. This may result from differences in their style of expression. A teacher's expertise in bio- chemistry does not necessarily go hand in hand with good teaching ability; rather it may be judged by the ways in which one can describe the whole story. In fact the real job of a teacher is to give a better insight of the subject to the learners. However, this quality may vary from person to person, and may be due to a lack of ideas of how to explain complex systems in simple ways. Efficiency at picking up ideas varies among the learners too! Both of these problems can be circumvented by adopting new strategies in order to give a better understanding of the subject to the learners, especially beginners. One way is to formulate a story in the form of cartoons representing occurrences of daily life and from which parallels with biochemical phenomena are drawn. Since these cartoon- based stories are easily 'trapped' inside the brain, con- sequently, the biochemical information is absorbed too.