Human Metabolism

This course is an integrative exploration of human metabolism, answering the broad questions of how and why our bodies use energy in our day-to-day lives. All living organisms receive energy from the outside world, transform it in their bodies, and then expend it on vital life processes including creating more life through reproduction. Human metabolism is like that of other animals in many ways, yet unique and derived in important aspects. In this course we explore human metabolism from the molecular level to the ecological level using the lens of evolution to understand the various processes that make up metabolism, as well as their interactions and integration across a person's body. The course includes a review of energetics, thermodynamics, and molecular physiology followed by in-depth study of molecular and cellular metabolism and the processes of digestion and substrate utilization. We then zoom out to study energy allocation and metabolic regulation within specific tissues and across the entire body, exploring behavioral and hormonal control of the underlying processes. The course finishes by looking at metabolic ecology, the decisions people make about activity and food and the effect of variation in human lifestyles on metabolism, and the evolution of the unique human metabolic strategy since our divergence from our ape ancestors. The course also includes four labs that provide hands-on experience measuring metabolism in humans and explore foundational principles in human energetics.