Biology Major
Program Requirements
- Total Units Required: 58
- Grade Requirement: All courses to be counted toward a major in biology must be taken for a letter grade if a letter grade is offered. A grade of C- or better must be earned in all of these courses.
Required Courses
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 2960 | Principles of Biology I | 4 |
| BIOL 2970 | Principles of Biology II | 4 |
| CHEM 1601 Principles of General Chemistry I or CHEM 1701 General Chemistry I | 3 | |
| CHEM 1602 Principles of General Chemistry II or CHEM 1702 General Chemistry II | 3 | |
| CHEM 1751 | General Chemistry Laboratory I | 2 |
| CHEM 1752 | General Chemistry Laboratory II | 2 |
| CHEM 2561 | Organic Chemistry I With Lab | 4 |
| CHEM 2562 | Organic Chemistry II With Lab | 4 |
| PHYSICS 1740 Physics I or PHYSICS 1760 Focused Physics I | 3 | |
| PHYSICS 1741 | Physics I Lab | 1 |
| PHYSICS 1742 Physics II or PHYSICS 1762 Focused Physics II | 3 | |
| PHYSICS 1743 | Physics II Lab | 1 |
| MATH 1510 | Calculus II | 3 |
| MATH 2130 Calculus III or MATH 3020 Elementary to Intermediate Statistics and Data Analysis or SDS 2020 Elementary Probability and Statistics | 3 | |
| Total Units | 40 | |
Students may substitute CHEM 4010 Physical Chemistry for CHEM 2562 Organic Chemistry II With Lab. Students who plan to take physical chemistry must take MATH 2130 Calculus III. SDS 2020 (required for the tracks in ecology and evolution and in genomics and computational biology) and MATH 2130 Calculus III are valuable, particularly for students interested in research. Students who have taken MATH 2130 may take SDS 3020 rather than SDS 2020 for a more advanced treatment of statistics.
At least 18 units in advanced biology courses (numbered 3000 or above) are required. These 18 units may not include the following: BIOL 3030, BIOL 3430, BIOL 3990, BIOL 3991, BIOL 3900, BIOL 4990, or BIOL 4991; courses in the School of Continuing & Professional Studies; or more than 3 units of history-of-science courses. The following courses originating in other departments do count towards the 18 units of advance biology major credit despite external origins: PHYSICS 3354, PHYSICS 3324, ANTHRO 4581, CHEM 4810, CHEM 4820, and CHEM 4833. Up to 6 units of independent research (BIOL 4950, BIOL 4951, BIOL 4952, BIOL 4953, or BIOL 4954) may be counted toward the 18 advanced biology units, and up to 3 units of BIOL 49XX seminar courses may be counted toward the 18 advanced biology units.
Majors are required to take at least one course from each of the following three areas:
Area A: Cellular and Molecular Biology
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 3240 | Human Genetics | 3 |
| BIOL 3340 | Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 3371 | Eukaryotic Genomes | 4 |
| BIOL 3481 | Parasitology | 3 |
| BIOL 3490 | Microbiology | 4 |
| BIOL 4240 | Immunology | 3 |
| BIOL 4242 | Virology | 3 |
| BIOL 4345 | Epigenetics | 3 |
| BIOL 4492 | Infections Diseaases: History, Pathology, and Prevention | 3 |
| BIOL 4510 | General Biochemistry | 4 |
| CHEM 4810 | General Biochemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM 4820 | General Biochemistry II | 3 |
Area B: Organismal Biology
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| ANTHRO 4581 | Principles of Human Anatomy and Development | 3 |
| BIOL 3057 | Physiological Control Systems | 3 |
| BIOL 3151 | Endocrinology | 3 |
| BIOL 3280 | Principles in Human Physiology | 4 |
| BIOL 3411 | Principles of the Nervous System | 3 |
| BIOL 3421 | Introduction to Neuroethology | 3 |
| BIOL 3422 | Genes, Brains, and Behavior | 3 |
| BIOL 3424 | Great Discoveries in Neuroscience | 3 |
| BIOL 4026 | How Plants Work: Physiology, Growth, and Metabolism | 3 |
| BIOL 4030 | Biological Clocks | 3 |
| BIOL 4071 | Developmental Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 4072 | Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 4381 | Cell-Based Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine | 3 |
Area C: Evolution, Ecology and Population Biology
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 3220 | Woody Plants of Missouri | 3 |
| BIOL 3221 | Research and Public Education in the Arboretum | 3 |
| BIOL 3470 | Darwin and Evolutionary Controversies* | 3 |
| BIOL 3494 | Microbes and the Environment | 4 |
| BIOL 3501 | Evolution | 4 |
| BIOL 3700 | Animal Behavior | 3 |
| BIOL 3810 | Introduction to Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 4181 | Population Genetics (and Microevolution) | 3 |
| BIOL 4182 | Macroevolution | 3 |
| BIOL 4183 | Molecular Evolution | 3 |
| BIOL 4195 | Disease Ecology | 4 |
| BIOL 4197 | Community Ecology | 3 |
| BIOL 4720 | Behavioral Ecology | 4 |
- *
These courses also satisfy the Arts & Sciences writing-intensive requirement.
Majors also must take an advanced laboratory course from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 3110 | Vertebrate Structure Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 3423 | Behavioral Genetics Laboratory | 3 |
| BIOL 3491 | Microbiology Laboratory | 3 |
| BIOL 3492 | Laboratory Experiments with Eukaryotic Microbes* | 3 |
| BIOL 3493 | Bacterial Bioprospecting and Biotechnology | 3 |
| BIOL 4040 | Laboratory of Neurophysiology* | 4 |
| BIOL 4193 | Experimental Ecology Laboratory* | 4 |
| BIOL 4220 | Practical Bioinformatics | 4 |
| BIOL 4342 | Research Explorations in Genomics | 4 |
| BIOL 4343 | Research Explorations in Genomics* | 4 |
| BIOL 4346 | Next-Gen Genetics: Merging Genetics With Genomic Insights | 3 |
| BIOL 4522 | Laboratory in Protein Analysis, Proteomics, and Protein Structure | 3 |
| BIOL 4523 | Molecular Methods in Enzyme Analysis | 4 |
| BIOL 4525 | Structural Bioinformatics of Proteins* | 4 |
| CHEM 4851 | Biological Chemistry Laboratory | |
| PHYSICS 3324 | Biophysics Laboratory | 3 |
- *
These courses also satisfy the Arts & Sciences writing-intensive requirement.
In special cases, students may earn credit for graduate courses offered by the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences.
Additional Information
Research
Research opportunities are available during the student's first and second years through BIOL 2901, BIOL 2902, BIOL 2903, or BIOL 2904; such opportunities are available during the third and fourth years through BIOL 4950, BIOL 4951, BIOL 4952, BIOL 4953, or BIOL 4954. A research emphasis in the major requires at least 6 credits (two semesters) of independent research (BIOL 4950, BIOL 4951, BIOL 4952, BIOL 4953, or BIOL 4954) and an approved senior thesis on this research, which is presented at the undergraduate symposium. The research emphasis is acknowledged on the degree as a research milestone.
Senior Honors
Biology majors are encouraged to work for senior honors, which require a 3.30 grade point average in biology, a 3.30 GPA in nonbiological sciences (mathematics, chemistry and physics courses), and a 3.65 overall GPA at the time of graduation. Also required are 6 units of BIOL 4950, BIOL 4951, BIOL 4952, BIOL 4953, or BIOL 4954 research and an approved thesis from this work, equivalent to the research emphasis described in the preceding paragraph. Students interested in senior honors should begin BIOL 4950, BIOL 4951, BIOL 4952, BIOL 4953, or BIOL 4954 no later than the spring of their junior year.
The Department of Biology awards the Marian Smith Spector Prize to an undergraduate who has an excellent academic record and who submits an outstanding honors thesis; it also awards the Ralph S. Quatrano Prize to the student whose thesis shows the greatest evidence of creativity in design, research methodology and/or broader scientific implications. The Harrison D. Stalker Prize is awarded to a graduating senior whose college career is distinguished by scholarship, service and breadth of interest.
Contact Info
| Phone: | 314-935-6860 |
| Email: | webmaster@biology.wustl.edu |
| Website: | http://wubio.wustl.edu |