Molecular Bioscience with Tracks in Biogeochemistry, Biophysics, Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics and Genomics
All biological sciences rest on two central principles – all organisms and their characteristics are the product of evolution, and all life processes have a physical and chemical basis. Simply put, at the most fundamental level, there is a shared molecular basis of life. Despite the astonishing diversity of living organisms, from bacteria living in deep ocean hydrothermal vents to cherry trees flowering in the spring to complex modern humans shaping the world around us, many features of all organisms at the cellular and molecular levels are fundamentally similar because of shared evolutionary history. Discoveries of fundamental molecular mechanisms in one species – a bacteria or fungus or fruit fly, for example – often apply to other distantly related organisms like humans. Solving many of the most perplexing and challenging biological, agricultural, medical, societal, and environmental problems in today’s world requires a broad and deep understanding of the molecular basis of life. The highly interdisciplinary field of molecular bioscience seeks to understand at the level of atoms and molecules how living things acquire energy and chemical nutrients from their environment, how they use that energy to fuel the basic biochemical reactions and cellular functions required for life, how they use molecular information encoded in their DNA to grow, survive, and reproduce, and how their metabolic and biochemical processes transform the environment in which we all live.
The broad goal of molecular bioscience, to understand the mechanisms of life processes at the physical, chemical, and cellular levels, requires students to integrate knowledge from several disciplines that traditionally are treated as separate realms of knowledge. Molecular bioscience is at the intersection of biology, chemistry, and physics, but most undergraduate programs require that students focus on one discipline at the exclusion of the other two. In contrast, the Molecular Bioscience major at DKU is designed to integrate fully the fields of biology, chemistry, and physics throughout the major’s course of study, so DKU students trained in molecular bioscience will be better prepared to understand and make fundamental advances on the tremendous challenges facing our current and future generations in human health, agriculture, biotechnology, and global environmental change.
Through the required interdisciplinary introductory courses including Biochemistry, Biophysics, Genetics and Evolution, and Biomedical Ethics, all molecular bioscience students will gain core foundational knowledge and skills that uniquely will enable them to pursue one of four more specialized tracks of courses that focus some of the most exciting fields of science today.
Students who choose the Cell and Molecular Biology track, for example, will learn of stunning new discoveries of how cells work at the molecular level, and how that knowledge is critical for advances in cancer biology and medicine, pharmacology, biochemistry, virology, immunology, developmental biology, and the Biotech industries.
The Genetics and Genomics track will provide students with deep insight into how the explosive fields of functional genomics, bioinformatics, and computational biology are revolutionizing our understanding of life. Students will learn how genomics is revealing the complex and highly orchestrated mechanisms that organisms use to regulate genes and genomes, how genomes evolve via population genomic processes, and how new methods like DNA editing promise to transform medicine, agriculture, and our understanding of basic biological processes.
The Biophysics track will allow students to apply principles of physics to biological systems at molecular, organismal, and ecological levels. These students will learn how such integrated applications of these principles are leading to the incredible breadth of advances biophysicists are making in bioelectronics, quantum biology, nanotechnology, structural biology, biomechanics, biochemistry, and cell and molecular biology.
Finally, students who choose the Biogeochemistry track will discover how the activities of biological systems and other chemical, physical, and geological processes drive the global or local cycles of chemicals like carbon and nitrogen, and ultimately lead to global environmental change. These students, with their interdisciplinary training in molecular bioscience with a focus on ecosystem science, will be uniquely prepared to solve existential challenges like human-mediated global climate change and environmental degradation.
Major Requirements
(Not every course listed is offered every term, and the course list will be updated periodically. Please refer to the online Course Catalog for Courses offered in 2023-2024.)
Molecular Bioscience / Biogeochemistry
Divisional Foundation Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
Choose one from the following two Math courses |
||
|
MATH 101 |
Introductory Calculus |
4 |
|
MATH 105 |
Calculus |
4 |
|
And complete the following courses |
||
|
BIOL 110 |
Integrated Science – Biology |
4 |
|
CHEM 110 |
Integrated Science – Chemistry |
4 |
|
PHYS 121 |
Integrated Science – Physics |
4 |
Interdisciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
CHEM 201 |
Organic Chemistry I |
4 |
|
PHYS 303 |
Introduction to Biophysics |
4 |
|
BIOL 305 |
Biochemistry |
4 |
|
BIOL 320 |
Bioethics |
4 |
|
Choose one of the two courses below |
||
|
BIOL 201 |
Cell and Molecular Biology |
4 |
|
BIOL 202 |
Genetics and Evolution |
4 |
Disciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
|
ENVIR 102 |
Dynamic Earth and Oceans: Physical and Biological Sciences for the Environment |
4 |
|
|
BIOL 208 |
General Ecology |
4 |
|
|
BIOL 311/ ENVIR 311 |
Biogeochemistry |
4 |
|
|
And choose one course from the following three courses |
|||
|
STATS 101 |
Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods |
4 |
|
|
MATH 206 |
Probability and Statistics |
4 |
|
|
And choose one course from the following three courses |
|||
|
BIOL 212 |
Microbiology |
4 |
|
|
BIOL 313/ ENVIR 313 |
Ecosystem Service |
4 |
|
|
BIOL 319 |
Global Change Biology |
4 |
|
|
And choose one course from the following three courses |
|||
|
CHEM 150 |
General Chemistry II |
4 |
|
|
BIOL 312 |
Ecophysiology |
4 |
|
|
ENVIR 315/ CHEM 315 |
Aqueous Geochemistry |
4 |
|
Electives
Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year. (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
|
Methods |
|||
|
INTGSCI 205 |
Integrated Science – Research Methods and Science Communication |
4 |
|
|
General Biology |
|||
|
BIOL 318 |
Food Web Ecology |
4 |
|
|
BIOL 405 |
Microbial Ecology |
4 |
|
|
Environmental and Chemistry |
|||
|
ENVIR 201 |
Dynamic Earth and Oceans: Physical and Biological Sciences for the Environment |
4 |
|
|
ENVIR 202 |
Biodiversity and Conservation |
4 |
|
|
ENVIR 304 |
Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology |
4 |
|
Molecular Bioscience / Biophysics
Divisional Foundation Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
Choose one from the following two Math courses |
||
|
MATH 101 |
Introductory Calculus |
4 |
|
MATH 105 |
Calculus |
4 |
|
And complete the following courses |
||
|
BIOL 110 |
Integrated Science – Biology |
4 |
|
CHEM 110 |
Integrated Science – Chemistry |
4 |
|
PHYS 121 |
Integrated Science – Physics |
4 |
Interdisciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
CHEM 201 |
Organic Chemistry I |
4 |
|
PHYS 303 |
Introduction to Biophysics |
4 |
|
BIOL 305 |
Biochemistry |
4 |
|
BIOL 320 |
Bioethics |
4 |
|
Choose one of the two courses below |
||
|
BIOL 201 |
Cell and Molecular Biology |
4 |
|
BIOL 202 |
Genetics and Evolution |
4 |
Disciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
PHYS 122 |
General Physics II |
4 |
|
MATH 201 |
Multivariable Calculus |
4 |
|
PHYS 201 |
Optics and Modern Physics |
4 |
|
MATH 202 |
Linear Algebra |
4 |
|
PHYS 302 |
Thermal and Statistical Physics |
4 |
|
PHYS 406 |
Biophysics |
4 |
|
And choose two courses from the following four courses |
||
|
PHYS 301 |
Classical Mechanics |
4 |
|
PHYS 304 |
Electricity and Magnetism |
4 |
|
PHYS 306[1] |
Quantum Mechanics |
4 |
|
PHYS 404 |
Nonlinear Dynamics |
4 |
Electives
Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year. (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
|
Methods |
|||
|
INTGSCI 205 |
Integrated Science – Research Methods and Science Communication |
4 |
|
|
Biomedical Sciences |
|||
|
BIOL 316 |
Quantitative Physiology |
4 |
|
|
NEUROSCI 202 |
Medical Neuroscience |
4 |
|
|
NEUROSCI 212 |
Cognitive Neuroscience |
4 |
|
|
Mathematical, and Computer Sciences |
|||
|
MATH 303 |
ODE and Dynamical Systems |
4 |
|
|
PHYS 310 |
Physics of Particulate Materials |
4 |
|
|
MATH 403 |
Partial Differential Equations |
4 |
|
|
MATH 410 |
Modeling Biological Systems |
4 |
|
|
Chemistry |
|||
|
CHEM 404 |
Physical Biochemistry |
4 |
|
Molecular Bioscience / Cell and Molecular Biology
Divisional Foundation Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
Choose one from the following two Math courses |
||
|
MATH 101 |
Introductory Calculus |
4 |
|
MATH 105 |
Calculus |
4 |
|
And complete the following courses |
||
|
BIOL 110 |
Integrated Science – Biology |
4 |
|
CHEM 110 |
Integrated Science – Chemistry |
4 |
|
PHYS 121 |
Integrated Science – Physics |
4 |
Interdisciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
CHEM 201 |
Organic Chemistry I |
4 |
|
BIOL 202 |
Genetics and Evolution |
4 |
|
PHYS 303 |
Introduction to Biophysics |
4 |
|
BIOL 305 |
Biochemistry |
4 |
|
BIOL 320 |
Bioethics |
4 |
Disciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
BIOL 201 |
Cell and Molecular Biology |
4 |
|
BIOL 212 |
Microbiology |
4 |
|
And choose three from the following four courses |
||
|
BIOL 304 |
Molecular Genetic Analysis |
4 |
|
BIOL 306 |
Cell Signaling and Diseases |
4 |
|
BIOL 315 |
Experimental Molecular Biology |
4 |
|
BIOL 321 |
Advanced Topics in Cellular and Molecular Biology |
4 |
|
And choose one from the following courses |
||
|
STATS 101 |
Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods |
4 |
|
MATH 206 |
Probability and Statistics |
4 |
Electives
Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year. (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
Methods |
||
|
INTGSCI 205 |
Integrated Science – Research Methods and Science Communication |
4 |
|
Biological Science |
||
|
BIOL 203 |
Molecular, Behavioral and Social Evolution: Evolution of Genomes, Traits, Behaviors and Societies |
4 |
|
BIOL 307 |
Cancer Genetics |
4 |
|
BIOL 310 |
Developmental Biology: Development, Stem Cells, and Regeneration |
4 |
|
BIOL 314 |
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics |
4 |
|
BIOL 317 |
Systems Biology |
4 |
|
BIOL 401 |
Advanced Biochemistry: Cell Metabolism |
4 |
|
BIOL 409/ GLHLTH 409 |
Fundamental Immunology |
4 |
|
BIOL 410 / GLHLTH 410 |
Principles of Nutrition and Disease |
4 |
|
BIOL 411/ GLHLTH 411 |
Vaccine Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases |
4 |
|
Data Science |
||
|
BIOL 314 |
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics |
4 |
|
Chemistry |
||
|
CHEM 404 |
Physical Biochemistry |
4 |
Molecular Bioscience / Genetics and Genomics
Divisional Foundation Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
Choose one from the following two Math courses |
||
|
MATH 101 |
Introductory Calculus |
4 |
|
MATH 105 |
Calculus |
4 |
|
And complete the following courses |
||
|
BIOL 110 |
Integrated Science – Biology |
4 |
|
CHEM 110 |
Integrated Science – Chemistry |
4 |
|
PHYS 121 |
Integrated Science – Physics |
4 |
Interdisciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
CHEM 201 |
Organic Chemistry I |
4 |
|
BIOL 202 |
Genetics and Evolution |
4 |
|
PHYS 303 |
Introduction to Biophysics |
4 |
|
BIOL 305 |
Biochemistry |
4 |
|
BIOL 320 |
Bioethics |
4 |
Disciplinary Courses
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
BIOL 201 |
Cell and Molecular Biology |
4 |
|
And choose four from the following five courses |
||
|
BIOL 304 |
Molecular Genetic Analysis |
4 |
|
BIOL 314 |
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics |
4 |
|
BIOL 321 |
Advanced Topics in Cellular and Molecular Biology |
4 |
|
BIOL 403 |
Experimental Methods in Functional Genomics |
4 |
|
BIOL 407 |
Population Genomics and Molecular Evolution |
4 |
|
And choose one from the following courses |
||
|
STATS 101 |
Introduction to Applied Statistical Methods |
4 |
|
MATH 206 |
Probability and Statistics |
4 |
Electives
Courses listed in the table below are recommended electives for the major. The course list reflects the most recent intellectual organization of major electives. Depending on the academic year in which you matriculated, some of the courses below may be requirements for your major. To verify required courses, always consult the requirements for the relevant class year in the bulletin of the year in which you matriculated unless you have been approved to complete the major requirements of a subsequent year. (See Ability to Meet Major Requirements Published in Years Subsequent to Year of Matriculation.)
|
Course Code |
Course Name |
Course Credit |
|
Methods |
||
|
INTGSCI 205 |
Integrated Science – Research Methods and Science Communication |
4 |
|
Biomedical Sciences |
||
|
BIOL 203 |
Molecular, Behavioral and Social Evolution: Evolution of Genomes, Traits, Behaviors and Societies |
4 |
|
BIOL 212 |
Microbiology |
4 |
|
NEUROSCI 301 |
Research Methods in Neuroscience |
4 |
|
BIOL 310 |
Developmental Biology: Development, Stem Cells, and Regeneration |
4 |
|
BIOL 315 |
Experimental Molecular Biology |
4 |
|
BIOL 317 |
Systems Biology |
4 |
|
BIOL 404 |
Genomics of Adaptation |
4 |
|
BIOL 409/ GLHLTH 409 |
Fundamental Immunology |
4 |
|
BIOL 410 / GLHLTH 410 |
Principles of Nutrition and Disease |
4 |
|
BIOL 411/ GLHLTH 411 |
Vaccine Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases |
4 |
|
Data Science |
||
|
BIOL 314 |
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics |
4 |
|
Environmental Science |
||
|
ENVIR 202 |
Biodiversity and Conservation |
4 |
[1] This course was numbered PHYS 401 prior to fall term 2022.