Biochemistry is a foul but necessary evil. Feigon absolutely loves what she does and she's very accomplished in her field, so she expects a lot from her students in turn. Grading was based on exams, quizzes on 2 papers, and problem sets. There were 3 exams (2 midterm + final) that were 99% short answer questions. Exams were a mixture of straight memorization-based and application questions. As for the paper quizzes, just understand what she emphasizes in her lectures on them and you'll be fine. In order to do well in this class, you need to make sure you're following the concepts as they're introduced. Don't just attend lecture and forget to review, otherwise you will be 3 days before the midterm with 15 lectures' worth memorization ahead of you. The content isn't that easy either, so take time to go back on what was covered and REALLY UNDERSTAND it. There is a logical flow to the lectures as a topic is covered, so it's not like you're randomly reviewing stuff. The main topics were DNA and RNA structure, DNA replication (prokaryotic and eukaryotic), transcription (prok + euk), and translation (prok+ euk). Feigon is kind of strict and intimidating, but don't let it stop you from going to office hours and asking clarifying questions. Good luck!

Dr. Feigon is absolutely passionate about what she does, and I admire her for it. The content of the course is extremely interesting in my opinion, although not easy due to the complexity and sheer amount of material. Dr. Feigon is not a good lecturer, she mumbles a lot and speaks slowly, I get lost quickly. The class is a bore to sit through, that is my largest criticism. I certainly did not put as much time and effort as this class required, and it is the reason I did not perform as well as I would have liked to.

Prof. Feigon is a really good biochemistry lecturer. She's completely fascinated by the work she does, by the material she presents, and tries her best to impart it to all of her students. She will go the extra step, will a whole bunch of office hours and a boatload of patience, to make sure that she answers any question and clears up any confusion as thoroughly as she can. That being said, she is not the most empathetic teacher. She has her rules, the rules of which are followed to the letter, and one must have a good reason (on your deathbed, hit by a car type-excuse) to have those rules bent.

The examinations are hard. Its a mix of straight memorization and application. For example, for the former, you might need to know where a co-activator and RNAP proteins bind, the name of the subunit which acts as the helicase in eu replication, and so on. As for the application, you'd most likely either receive questions that want you to explain how a mutation would affect replication, translation, transcription, or a question where you're given a gel/results from an experiment, and you must be able to make proper conclusions based of what you're given. To be succeed in this class, make sure you know "everything" which is bolded/underlined/colored in her slides and go through the sample exams to get a feel for the questions.

The midterms are worth 25% each. Our class averages for M1 & M2 were 51 and 56%, respectively, and curved that a little less than the standard deviation were As. There are two quizzes as well, based off of two academic papers you read - those are easy and only worth 5% total, but can have a tricky question or two. The final was cumulative and worth 40%. Homework was quick to finish and mostly graded for completion (worth the remaining 5%).

Professor Feigon enjoys the DNA/RNA world very much and although her monotonous tone may not reflect it, the sheer amount of 3D structures she covers is enough to demonstrate her interest in the subject. Her exams are fair, consisting of application-based problems and some regurgitation questions. To do well in the class, one should rewatch lectures and take detailed notes on each slide having a solid understanding of major concepts in this class: DNA structure, telomerase, DNA repair, transcription, RNA structure and function (she loves this and now I do too lol), DNA-binding motifs, and translation.

I thought 153B was the hardest of all the biochem courses, but Dr. Feigon is a really great professor. She made the material easier to understand by providing models and clear/concise pictures on her powerpoint lectures. She was always available for office hours, and even made LOTS of extra office hours before an exam. Her exams are fair with a few harder questions, but you should be able to do well, if you go to all the lectures. The first 4 weeks of the course is where all the hardest material is at, so make sure to pay attention. After the first midterm, a lot of the class is like LS3, so it is much easier. I also agree that Craig, her TA, was GREAT. He was always very helpful, and he knew his stuff well! I highly suggest taking this class with Dr. Feigon !!

Prof. Feigon really is awesome. I picked her class because it only had 20 people, but it ended being such a great decision! She's very organized, very clear, and really teaches from the perspective of the student, ie trying to learn something complicated for the first time. I think the thing that got me sold was the first day, she said she wanted to know everyone's name, and I'm pretty sure she has done that. She's so friendly--it made me feel very comfortable with her (she offered us cake in office hours). She is very excited about the material; I don't think I would have enjoyed the class otherwise, since I found 153C more interesting, but I have developed an appreciation and respect for the material and for science in general. Her tests are very reasonable. If you miss a question, you KNOW where in her lecture slides it was, and she DOES have "thinking questions," but I think the homework prepares you for it, and if you put in your work studying, you should do above average. Her TA's are great too! (Craig) She had quizzes and homework as part of the grade too, 2 midterms, and then a final exam.