Minors in and for Biology

There are five Biology-related minor programs. Three are specifically for Biology majors and two are designed for students who have a major other than Biology.

Minors for Biological Sciences majors:

• Minor in Bioinformatics
• Minor in Chemistry
• Minor in Biochemistry

Minors for non-Biological Sciences majors:

• Minor in Biological Sciences
• Minor in Computational Biology

Minors for Biological Sciences majors

Minor in Bioinformatics

The minor in Bioinformatics is intended for students who are majoring in Biological Sciences. It consists of 21 credit hours in the Life and Computing Sciences. A grade of C- or better must be earned in all required courses. Besides required courses, students wishing to minor in Bioinformatics must complete a senior thesis, either by registering for UNIV 401 - Senior Thesis and UNIV 402 - Senior Thesis, or through department sponsored research (e.g. BISC 466 - Independent Study). One Life Science and one Computing Science faculty member must direct the research. The senior thesis committee must be composed of the two research directors and one additional member chosen in consultation with the two research directors. The course requirements for the minor, including all prerequisites for the courses, as enumerated in the University Course Catalog, are as follows:

• ANSC 644 - Bioinformatics (3 credits)
• BISC 401 - Molecular Biology of the Cell (3 credits)
  • Prerequisites:
    • BISC 207 - Introductory Biology I (4 credits)
    • CHEM 103 - General Chemistry (4 credits)
    • CHEM 104 - General Chemistry (4 credits)
    • CHEM 322 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits)
• CHEM 527 - Introductory Biochemistry (3 credits)
  • Prerequisite: CHEM 322 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits)
• CISC 220 - Data Structures (3 credits)
  • Prerequisite: CISC 181 - Introduction to Computer Science (3 credits)
  • Corequisite:
    • MATH 210 - Discrete Mathematics I (3 credits)
      OR
      MATH 242 - Analytic Geometry and Calculus B (4 credits)
• CISC 437 - Database Systems (3 credits)
  • Prerequisite: CISC 220 - Data Structures (3 credits)
• Senior Thesis (6 credits)

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Minor in Chemistry

The 2007-2008 academic year requirements for a Minor in Chemistry require a minimum of 19 credits as follows:

• CHEM 103 - General Chemistry (4 credits) and
  CHEM 104 - General Chemistry (4 credits)
  OR
  CHEM 111 - General Chemistry (3 credits),
  CHEM 112 - General Chemistry (3 credits), and
  CHEM 119 - Quantitative Chemistry I (3 credits)
• Any three of the following:
  • CHEM 220 - Quantitative Analysis (3 credits) and
    CHEM 221 - Quantitative Analysis Laboratory (1 credit)
    OR
    CHEM 437 - Instrumental Methods (3 credits) and
    CHEM 438 - Instrumental Methods Laboratory (1 credit)
  • CHEM 321 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits)
    OR
    CHEM 331 - Organic Chemistry (3 credits) and
    CHEM 333 - Organic Chemistry Majors Laboratory I (1-2 credits)
    OR
    CHEM 457 - Inorganic Chemistry (3 credits) and
    CHEM 458 - Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory (1 credit)
  • CHEM 418 - Introductory Physical Chemistry I (3 credits) and
    CHEM 445 - Physical Chemistry Laboratory I (1 credit)
    OR
    CHEM 443 - Physical Chemistry I (3 credits) and
    CHEM 445 - Physical Chemistry Laboratory I (1 credit)
  • CHEM 527 - Introductory Biochemistry (3 credits)
    OR
    CHEM 641 - Biochemistry (3 credits)

Students must have a minimum grade of C- in each course counted toward the minor.

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Minor in Biochemistry

Note that this minor will be available beginning with the 2005-2006 academic year.

• CHEM 103 - General Chemistry (4 credits) and
  CHEM 104 - General Chemistry (4 credits)
  OR
  CHEM 111 - General Chemistry (3 credits),
  CHEM 112 - General Chemistry (3 credits), and
  CHEM 119 - Quantitative Chemistry I (3 credits)
• CHEM 321 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits) and
  CHEM 322 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits)
  OR
  CHEM 331 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits),
  CHEM 332 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits), and
  CHEM 333 - Organic Chemistry Majors Laboratory I (2 credits)
  • Note: CHEM 333 must be taken for 2 credits, i.e., both the lecture section and one of the lab sections must be taken.
• CHEM 641 - Biochemistry (3 credits)
• CHEM 642 - Biochemistry (3 credits)
  OR
  CHEM 643 - Intermediary Metabolism (3 credits)
  • Note: CHEM 643 is recommended in place of CHEM 642 for those students who have taken BISC 401 - Molecular Biology of the Cell.

Total: 22 credits

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Minors for non-Biological Sciences majors

Minor in Biological Sciences

This minor is for students whose major is not Biological Sciences. The required courses are:

• BISC 207 - Introductory Biology I (4 credits) and
  BISC 208 - Introductory Biology II (4 credits)
• Two courses from:
  • BISC 300 - Introduction to Microbiology (4 credits)
  • BISC 302 - General Ecology (3 credits)
    OR
    BISC 321 - Environmental Biology (3 credits)
  • BISC 276 - Human Physiology (4 credits)
    OR
    BISC 306 - General Physiology (3 credits)
    
  • BISC 401 - Molecular Biology of the Cell (3 credits)
  • BISC 403 - Genetic and Evolutionary Biology (3 credits)
• Additional BISC courses at the 300 level or above to total 19 credits in biology
• CHEM 101 - General Chemistry (4 credits) and
  CHEM 102 - General Chemistry (4 credits)
  OR
  CHEM 103 - General Chemistry (4 credits) and
  CHEM 104 - General Chemistry (4 credits)
  
• CHEM 213 - Elementary Organic Chemistry (4 credits)
  OR
  CHEM 321 - Organic Chemistry (4 credits)

The requirements include any of the necessary prerequisites for the required courses. A grade of C- or better is required in all biology courses taken for the minor, and a D (not a D-) is required for all non-biology courses for the minor.

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Minor in Computational Biology

The minor in Computational Biology is intended for students who are majors in something other than Biological Sciences. It consists of 21 credit hours in the Life and Computing Sciences. A grade of C- or better must be earned in all required courses. Besides required courses, students wishing to minor in Computational Biology must complete a senior thesis, either by registering for UNIV 401 - Senior Thesis and UNIV 402 - Senior Thesis, or through department sponsored research (e.g. BISC 466 - Independent Study). One Life Science and one Computing Science faculty member must direct the research. The senior thesis committee must be composed of the two research directors and one additional member chosen in consultation with the two research directors. At least one of the members of the committee must be a faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences. The course requirements for the minor, including all prerequisites for the courses, as enumerated in the University Course Catalog, are as follows:

• ANSC 644 - Bioinformatics (3 credits)
  • Prerequisites: None
• BISC 401 - Molecular Biology of the Cell (3 credits)
  • Prerequisites:
    • BISC 207 - Introductory Biology I (4 credits)
    • CHEM 103 - General Chemistry (4 credits)
    • CHEM 104 - General Chemistry (4 credits)
    • one semester of organic chemistry
• CISC 220 - Data Structures (3 credits)
  • Prerequisite: CISC 181 - Introduction to Computer Science (3 credits)
  • Corequisite:
    • MATH 210 - Discrete Mathematics I (3 credits)
      OR
      MATH 242 - Analytic Geometry and Calculus B (4 credits)
• CISC 437 - Database Systems (3 credits)
  • Prerequisite: CISC 220 - Data Structures (3 credits)
• MAST 634 - Marine Biochemistry (3 credits)
  • Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
• Senior Thesis (6 credits)

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