Please consult the "Specialization Requirements" information below for required courses specific to the Microbiology Specialization of the 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 | 3 |
| or CHEM 1701 | General Chemistry I | |
| CHEM 1602 | Principles of General Chemistry II | 3 |
| or CHEM 1702 | General Chemistry II | |
| CHEM 1751 | General Chemistry Laboratory I | 2 |
| CHEM 1752 | General Chemistry Laboratory II | 2 |
| CHEM 2561 | Organic Chemistry I With Lab | 4 |
| or CHEM 2501 & CHEM 2551 | Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Laboratory I | |
| CHEM 2562 | Organic Chemistry II With Lab | 4 |
| or CHEM 2502 & CHEM 2552 | Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry Laboratory II | |
| PHYSICS 1740 | Physics I | 3-4 |
| or PHYSICS 1760 | Focused Physics I | |
| PHYSICS 1741 | Physics I Laboratory | 1 |
| PHYSICS 1742 | Physics II | 3-4 |
| or PHYSICS 1762 | Focused Physics II | |
| PHYSICS 1743 | Physics II Laboratory | 1 |
| MATH 1510 | Calculus I | 3 |
| MATH 2130 | Calculus III | 3 |
| or SDS 2020 | Elementary Probability and Statistics | |
| or SDS 3020 | Elementary to Intermediate Statistics and Data Analysis | |
| or SDS 3030 | Statistics for Data Science I | |
| Total Units | 40-42 | |
Students may substitute CHEM 4010 Physical Chemistry I for CHEM 2562 Organic Chemistry II With Lab. Students who plan to take physical chemistry must take MATH 2130 Calculus III. SDS 2020 Elementary Probability and Statistics (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 Calculus III may take SDS 3020 Elementary to Intermediate Statistics and Data Analysis rather than SDS 2020 Elementary Probability and Statistics 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 Human Biology, BIOL 3430 Plants, People and the Environment, BIOL 3990 Undergraduate Teaching, BIOL 3991 Undergraduate Teaching, BIOL 4060 Introduction to Biochemistry, BIOL 4990 Undergraduate Teaching, or BIOL 4991 Undergraduate Teaching; courses taken through WashU Continuing & Professional Studies; or more than 3 units of history-of-science courses. The following courses originating in other departments do count toward the 18 units of advance biology major credit despite external origins: PHYSICS 3354 Physics of Living Systems, PHYSICS 3324 Biophysics Laboratory, ANTHRO 4581 Principles of Human Anatomy and Development, REPRSCI 5000 Human Reproductive Physiology, CHEM 4810 General Biochemistry I, CHEM 4820 General Biochemistry II, and CHEM 4833 Protein Biochemistry. Up to 6 units of independent research (BIOL 4950 Independent Research, BIOL 4951 Independent Research, BIOL 4952 Summer Independent Research, BIOL 4953 Summer Independent Research in Neuroscience or BIOL 4954 Independent Research in Neuroscience) 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.
Biology Area Courses
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 3041 | Plant Biology and Genetic Engineering | 4 |
| BIOL 3240 | Human Genetics | 3 |
| BIOL 3340 | Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 3481 | Parasitology | 3 |
| BIOL 3490 | Microbiology | 4 |
| BIOL 4240 | Immunology | 4 |
| BIOL 4242 | Virology | 3 |
| BIOL 4345 | Epigenetics | 3 |
| BIOL 4492 | Infectious Diseases: History, Pathology, and Prevention * | 3 |
| BIOL 4510 | General Biochemistry | 4 |
| BIOL 4834 | Bioenergy | 3 |
| 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 4072 | Regenerative and Stem Cell Biology | 3 |
| BIOL 4381 | Cell-Based Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine | 3 |
| REPRSCI 5000 | Human Reproductive Physiology | 3 |
Area C: Evolution, Ecology and Population Biology
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 3183 | A History of Genetics in the 20th Century * | 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 4010 | Biology of Mammals | 3 |
| BIOL 4181 | Population Genetics | 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.
Advanced Laboratory Courses
Majors also must take an advanced laboratory course from the following list:
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 3110 | Vertebrate Structure Laboratory | 4 |
| BIOL 3111 | Human and Comparative Anatomy | 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 (Writing-Intensive) * | 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 | 3 |
| BIOL 4525 | Structural Bioinformatics of Proteins (Writing Intensive) * | 4 |
| CHEM 4851 | Biological Chemistry Laboratory | 4 |
| PHYSICS 3324 | Biophysics Laboratory | 3 |
- *
These courses also satisfy the Arts & Sciences writing-intensive requirement.
Specialization Requirements
- Total units required (including the biology major requirements): 64
Additional requirements include BIOL 3490 Microbiology, which should be taken during the spring of the sophomore year, and either BIOL 4510 General Biochemistry or the pair of courses CHEM 4810 General Biochemistry I and CHEM 4820 General Biochemistry II. The advanced laboratory course used to fulfill major requirements must be one of the following: BIOL 3491 Microbiology Laboratory, BIOL 3492 Laboratory Experiments With Eukaryotic Microbes, or BIOL 3493 Bacterial Bioprospecting and Biotechnology. At least one of the following must be taken as an advanced microbiology elective: BIOL 3481 Parasitology, BIOL 3494 Microbes and the Environment, BIOL 4242 Virology, BIOL 4492 Infectious Diseases: History, Pathology, and Prevention, or BBS 5426 ID Gateway: Translational and Public Health Aspects of Basic Infectious Disease Research. At least one of the following must be taken as an allied elective: the pair of courses BIOL 1910 Ampersand: Phage Hunters and BIOL 1920 Ampersand: Phage Bioinformatics, BIOL 4240 Immunology, CHEM 4830 Bioorganic Chemistry, or EEPS 3230 Biogeochemistry. Students should select one course each from biology major areas B and C. BIOL 3501 Evolution is highly recommended as the course used to fulfill biology major area C. The total number of upper-level credits earned in major-track biology courses and allied electives must be at least 24 (6 units in addition to the 18 units required for the biology major).
Additional Information
Research
Research opportunities are available during the student's first and second years through BIOL 2901 Introduction to Research, BIOL 2902 Introduction to Research in Neuroscience, BIOL 2903 Summer Introduction to Research, or BIOL 2904 Summer Introduction to Research in Neuroscience; such opportunities are available during the third and fourth years through BIOL 4950 Independent Research, BIOL 4951 Independent Research, BIOL 4952 Summer Independent Research, BIOL 4953 Summer Independent Research in Neuroscience, or BIOL 4954 Independent Research in Neuroscience. A research emphasis in the major requires at least 6 credits (two semesters) of independent research (BIOL 4950 Independent Research, BIOL 4951 Independent Research, BIOL 4952 Summer Independent Research, BIOL 4953 Summer Independent Research in Neuroscience, or BIOL 4954 Independent Research in Neuroscience) 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 Independent Research, BIOL 4951 Independent Research, BIOL 4952 Summer Independent Research, BIOL 4953 Summer Independent Research in Neuroscience, or BIOL 4954 Independent Research in Neuroscience 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 Independent Research, BIOL 4951 Independent Research, BIOL 4952 Summer Independent Research, BIOL 4953 Summer Independent Research in Neuroscience, or BIOL 4954 Independent Research in Neuroscience no later than the spring of their junior year. Information about deadlines and requirements can be found on the Research Emphasis and Latin Honors page of the Biology Undergraduate Independent Research website.
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 Award is awarded to a graduating senior whose college career is distinguished by scholarship, service, and breadth of interest. More information on these awards and prizes can be found on the Biology Undergraduate Awards webpage.
Contact Info
| Phone: | 314-935-6860 |
| Email: | biology@wustl.edu |
| Website: | https://biology.wustl.edu/ |