Did you know that life, in all its mind boggling diversity, from single-celled bacteria to reptiles, birds, and mammals, is made possible by ten simple chemical reactions?

These reactions, and their interconversions in our primary metabolic pathways, are the focus of 5.07SC Biological Chemistry I, just published on OCW.

It’s amazing, really. The basic reactions, their metabolic pathways, and the vitamins that are modified to make catalysts boosting still more reactions, are conserved across organisms. â€œIt doesn’t matter whether you study a bacteria or a human, the central metabolism is pretty much the same,” says star researcher Professor JoAnne Stubbe, one of the 5.07SC instructors. “The thing that’s different is the detailed regulation and the complexity of the regulation.”

So if you can understand the basics of biochemistry, you have the keys to understanding the living universe.

And the keys to understanding most diseases, since most diseases involve some sort of dysfunction in the regulation of metabolic reactions.

• 8.223 Classical Mechanics II
• 18.650 Statistics for Applications

• 5.111SC Principles of Chemical Science

OCW has just published an updated version of 21G.027 Asia in the Modern World: Images and Representations. It is an unusual course site, with a unique history, and a remarkable instructor, who has learned new things about teaching even after many years in the classroom.

The course looks at history primarily through images, rather than texts, with a special emphasis on Japan. The instructor is Professor Shigeru Miyagawa, Professor of Linguistics and Kochi-Majiro Professor of Japanese Language and Culture. He also holds a joint project professorship at the University of Tokyo, where he is Director of Online Education.

Professor Miyagawa has devoted much energy in his career to creating a large collection of images, assembled from museums from all over the world, on the Visualizing Cultures website. What’s even more impressive, the images are published under a Creative Commons license, so that people can download them and use them in their own teaching and projects.

Learn to code in Python on your own schedule

MITx is excited to announce that our most popular course, Introduction to Computer Science Using Python, will begin operating as a self-paced course starting on August 30th! This means learners will now be able to take this course and at their own pace and at any time that is convenient for them. If you choose to earn a verified certificate, your certificate will automatically generate as soon as you’ve reached a passing grade. No more waiting for the next course offering!
 
Introduction to Computer Science Using Python teaches learners how to use programming to solve many kinds of real-life problems, and requires no previous experience in the field. Though challenging, over 30,000 learners across the globe who have certified their Python skills in this course. The course is also eligible to be converted into low-cost college credit through Charter Oak State College.

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Video games are great. They can test your hand-eye coordinating, drop you into a fantastical world, or challenge you to play in the real world with friends or strangers.

You can put yourself into the driver's seat by designing your own video games. To find resources that will help you create, design, and deploy, check out the gaming and game designs courses on OCW Highlights for High School.

Happy gaming!