On behalf of the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the Department of Biochemistry, I welcome you to MCB 450 (formerly Biochemistry 350). This course is an introduction to biochemistry, a discipline devoted to understanding living systems in terms of chemical principles. I became infatuated with biochemistry during my first (and only) year as a medical student at the University of Chicago decades ago. I liked biochemistry so much that I decided to drop out of medical school to become a biochemist. My fervent hope is that you come to love biochemistry as much as do I.

Richard Mintel
Urbana, Illinois
January 16, 2007