Title: Week 6 - Unit 2-3 : Lipids
Course: Biochemistry

Introduction

Lipids, commonly referred to as fats, are organic compounds from both animals and plants, they are water insoluble but soluble in most of nonpolar organic solvents. Lipids share in common the same property of having hydrophobic regions and are made from a small number of molecules in their backbone. These include mainly fatty acids, glycerol and sphingosine. There are different classes of lipids; here we will talk about three classes: triglycerides, phospholipids and sterols.

Expectation

In this lesson, we will learn more about the chemical structure and biological function of various lipids.

Course outline

1. Fatty acids
2. triglycerides,
3. phospholipids
4. sterols

Learning outcomes

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

- Define and classify lipids
- Differentiate between saturated and unsaturated fatty Acids
- Define the basic structure of a steroid