The Biology Department offers a B.S. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. This degree will increase the breath of undergraduate training and afford current Hopkins majors a greater range of educational possibilities and career options. The B.S. program is designed to provide a more rigorous preparation for advanced study in the Biomedical Sciences. The program is tailored not only to students planning to enter Ph.D. programs or obtain employment in the biotechnology industry, but also for premedical students. The B.S. program in Molecular and Cellular Biology is administered by the faculty of the Biology department and is open to all Hopkins undergraduates.

Requirements

The four-year B.S. program in Molecular and Cellular Biology requires additional specialized coursework with respect to the B.A. program and a two semester (6 credits) laboratory research experience. Students completing these requirements will be awarded a B.S. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology only, not double B.A. in Biology/B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology degrees. The major emphasis of the B.S. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology is the participation of the students in an original research project. A B.S. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology requires, in addition to the present requirements for the B.A. degree in Biology, at least five (5) courses totaling thirteen (13) credits or more from the approved upper level science courses listed in Appendix I and six (6) credits of research supervised by a faculty member in Biology, Biophysics or basic science departments in the School of Medicine currently involved in graduate Ph. D. programs.

For the Class of 2016 and later, two of the upper level electives must have an 020 number and be three or more credit hours.

The supervised research will include participation in group meetings and writing a summary of accomplished work at the end of the year. Supervised research is initiated by an agreement between the student and the faculty member with whom she/he wishes to work. This agreement specifies the obligations of the student in terms of amount and scheduling of time dedicated to laboratory work, as well as a commitment from the mentor in terms of supervision, readings, guidance in pursuing the project, etc. For help in finding a research supervisor, students would discuss their interests with their advisor or other faculty. Information on the research interests of the faculty is also available at the web sites of each participating department. Students would then contact researchers with whom they might like to work and discuss possible research opportunities. Students are urged to make these arrangements well before the end of the semester prior to the beginning of the work. If the research supervisor is not a full-time member in the Biology Department, students must find a sponsor among the full-time Biology faculty. The sponsor must decide whether the work is relevant to the Molecular and Cellular Biology major and must agree to serve as the sponsor. When registering for research, students must submit an Undergraduate Research/Independent Study/Internship Supplemental Registration Form that has been signed by the faculty sponsor. Forms and other information can be obtained from the Registrar.

In addition to six credits of supervised research, 020.503-504, 020.513-514, 020.572 (intersession) or 020.597 (summer), and the University's core requirements, the course requirements for the B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology degree are as follows:

Biology

020.304 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
020.307 Enzymes, Metabolism, and Metabolic Disorders
020.310/610 Developmental Neurobiology
020.312/612 Introduction to the Human Brain
020.317/614 Signaling in Development and Disease
020.322 Cellular and Molecular Biology of Sensation
020.324 DNA Microarray Technology (Bioinformatics)
020.325 Introduction to the Protein World
020.326 The Sugar Code: The Sweet Side of Life (formerly Intro to Glycobiology)
020.328 Adopt a Genome: Genomics and sequence analyses*
020.329 The Microbial World
020.331/630 Human Genetics
020.332 Photosynthesis by Land and Aquatic Organisms (Plant Biochemistry)
020.333 Adaptations of Plants to Their Environments
020.334 Planets, Life and the Universe
020.335 Landmarks in Biochemical Research
020.336 Stem Cell Biology (in Development and Disease)
020.337 Stem Cells & the Biology of Aging & Disease
020.342 Proteins
020.344 Virology
020.346 Immunobiology
020.347 AIDS
020.349 Microbial Pathogenesis (Epidemics and Pandemics)
020.352 Topics in Virology and Bacteriology
020.353 Examining Alternative Health Strategies
020.365 Introduction to the Human Skeleton
020.368 Mammalian Evolution
020.370/670 Emerging Strategies and Applications in Biomedical Research
020.374 Comparative Animal Physiology
020.375 Human Anatomy
020.376/606 Molecular Evolution
020.379 Evolution
020.380 Eukaryotic Molecular Biology
020.383 Molecular Biology of Aging
020.629 Principles of Cancer Biology (Human Cancer Biology and Treatment)
020.634 Chromatin and Transcription
020.637 Genomes and Development
020.638 Regulation and Mechanisms of the Cell Cycle
020.639 Macromolecular Assemblies in Biology
020.640 Epigenetics & Chromosome Dynamics
020.642 Proteins: Structure, Folding, and Interaction with Partners
020.646 Biological Spectroscopy
020.651 Retroviruses
020.665 Advanced Biochemistry
020.667 Bioconjugate Techniques
020.668 Advanced Molecular Biology
020.674 Grad Biophysical Chemistry
020.676 Functional Interpretation of Biological Structures
020.680 Molecular Basis of Drug Discovery
020.682 Molecular Recognition and Signaling
020.686 Advanced Cell Biology

Applied Mathematics and Statistics

550.310 Probability and Statistics for the Physical and Information Sciences
550.311 Probability and Statistics for the Biological and Medical Sciences
550.413 Applied Statistics and Data Analysis
550.420 Introduction to Probability
550.430 Introduction to Statistics
550.435 Bioinformatics and Statistical Genetics

Behavioral Biology

290.301 Stress and the Brain

Biomedical Engineering

580.321 Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics
580.421 Physiological Foundations for Biomedical Engineering I
580.422 Physiological Foundations for Biomedical Engineering II
580.425 Ionic Channels in Excitable Membranes
580.427 Calcium Signals in Biological Systems
580.440 Cell and Tissue Engineering
580.441 Cellular Engineering
580.442 Tissue Engineering
580.474 Molecular and Cellular Imaging

Biophysics

250.304 Mathematical Approaches to Biological Problems
250.326 Biological Macromolecules: Structures and Function
250.329 Statistics and Data Analysis for Biosciences
250.332 X-ray Crystallography of Biological Molecules
250.345 Cellular and Molecular Physiology
250.351 Reproductive Physiology
250.353 Computational Biology (Biomolecular Dynamics and Ensembles)
250.372 Introduction to Biophysical Chemistry
250.391 Proteins and Nucleic Acids
250.401 Structural and Physical Virology
250.411 Advanced Seminar in Structural Biology of Chromatin

Chemistry

030.301 Physical Chemistry I
030.302 Physical Chemistry II
030.425 Advanced Mechanistic Organic Chemistry I
030.426 Advanced Mechanistic Organic Chemistry II
030.441 Spectroscopic Methods of Organic Structure Determination
030.451 Spectroscopy
030.601 Statistical Mechanics
030.619 Chemical Biology I
030.620 Chemical Biology II
030.634 Bioorganic Chemistry

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

540.402 Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology of Mammalian Systems
540.404/604 Therapeutic & Diagnostic Colloids
540.409 Modeling, Dynamics and Control of Chemical and Biological Systems
540.431 Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology
540.435 Genome Engineering
540.437 Applications of Molecular Evolution to Biotechnology
540.441 Cellular Engineering
540.459 Biotechnology in Regenerative Medicine
540.460 Computational and Experimental Design of Biomolecules

Computer Science

600.403 Computational Genomics: Sequence Modeling
600.439 Computational Genomics

Earth and Planetary Sciences

270.308 Population and Community Ecology
270.311 Geobiology
270.311 Geobiology
270.312 Mammalian Evolution
270.320 The Environment and Your Health (Global Change and Human Health)
270.323 Ocean Biogeochemical Cycles
270.325 Oceanography

Geography and Environmental Engineering

570.303 The Environment and Your Health
570.309 Microbiology
570.317 Paleoecology
570.328 Geography and Ecology of Plants
570.395 Principles of Estuarine Environment: The Chesapeake Bay
570.403 Ecology
570.411 Environmental Microbiology
570.443 Aquatic Chemistry
570.450 Molecular Biology for Engineering Applications

Materials Science and Engineering

510.316 - Biomaterials I

Neurosciences

080.304 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
080.305 The Nervous System I
080.306 The Nervous System II
080.310 Synaptic Function and Plasticity
080.313 Biology of Neural Development
080.322 Cellular and Molecular Biology of Sensation
080.330 Brain Injury and Recovery of Function
080.335 Neuroscience of Pain
080.340 Neuroplasticity
080.352 Primate Brain Function
080.355 Visual System
080.360 Diseases and Disorders of the Nervous System

Physics

171.309 Wave Phenomena with Biophysical Applications
171.310 Biological Physics
171.319-320 Intermediate General Physics for the Biosciences

Psychological and Brain Sciences

200.312 Imaging the Human Mind
200.314 Advanced Statistical Methods
200.329 Brain, Communication and Evolution
200.344 Behavioral Endocrinology
200.370 Functional Human Neuroanatomy
200.374 Behavioral Medicine (acceptable thru 2007 only)
200.376 Psychopharmacology
200.378 Evolution of Behavior
200.386 Animal Cognition (acceptable thru 2008 only)
200.391 Sex Differences in the Brain, Behavior and Cognition
290.303 Brain, Communication, and Evolution

Public Health

280.335 The Environment and Your Health

*General Biology will not be required for the class of 2011 and later.

**Successful completion of this course provides 1 credit hour towards the upper level bio elective requirement for the BA and BS degrees and 2 credit hours towards the BS research requirement.

Joel Schildbach, Director of Undergraduate Studies
Mudd Hall, Room 235
410.516.0176
joel@jhu.edu

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