Animal Physiology 3. Digestion and metabolism

Animal Physiology 3. Digestion and metabolism

Animal physiology is, to use a common phrase, how animals work. 

Animals are, in one sense, machines, and the aim of the science of physiology is to understand how these machines function—what drives them, how they operate, the interaction of the various systems they comprise, and the physical and chemical constraints on how they work. 

Animals are also organisms, and this course is intended to help you understand how animals work as integrated units, i.e. as organisms. We will be concerned with how organisms’ various components work to keep an animal alive, with how these are coordinated, and how the various types of animals, despite their disparate evolutionary histories, solve common physiological problems, sometimes in remarkably innovative ways.

This course is the third in a series of courses that, together, would be the equivalent of a one-semester course in animal physiology. I strongly recommend that you take the first two courses in the series, Animal Physiology 1. Respiration and gas exchange, and Animal Physiology 2. Blood and circulation, before you take this course. The next course in the series is Animal Physiology 4. Temperature, water and metabolic rate. 

This course is intended for the upper-division biology student. It is also a good course for graduate students and practicing professionals looking for a brush-up course in animal physiology. I presume that you come into this course with the background in chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology that can be reasonably expected of a senior biology student.

The course consists of about six  hours of video clips, parceled into seven lectures.

How animals obtain, process and absorb the nutrients needed to sustain their metabolic work.

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What you will learn

• Understand the nature of metabolic fuels and their role in sustaining metabolism.
• Understand how the oxidation of carboydrates differs from oxidation of lipids, and how they are similar.
• Understand the unique metabolic challenges of using amino acids as fuels.

Rating: 4.8

Level: Intermediate Level

Duration: 6.5 hours

Instructor: Scott Turner