• Understand how to introduce selective modifications and construct conjugates of biomolecules
• Have a working knowledge of chemical genetics and chemical ligation
• Know the concept of fusion proteins and their uses
• Understand the principles of protein engineering, including the use of non-natural amino acids

This course aims to provide a general overview of the core concepts of Chemical Biology. This is an interdisciplinary research area between chemistry and biology, where molecules and chemical techniques are used to study, monitor and influence biological systems. The student is provided with a broad overview on the chemical methods to modify bio-molecules, both in vivo and in vitro. We will discuss how cells can be influenced on the level of genetic, proteomic and metabolic level and how changes can be measured quantitatively using new developments in analytical tools as fluorescence and other microscopy-based techniques, mass spectrometry and NMR.

The aim of the course is to provide the student with an overview of the toolbox of chemical approaches used to unravel and influence molecular processes inside (living) cells.