Department of Molecular Biologyadvising Handbook

Department of Molecular BiologyAdvising Handbook

Last Updated August 14, 2015

Table of Contents

Description of the Molecular Biology Major

Suggestions for completing the 16 units for the major in four years

For students who took calculus in high school:

For students who did not take calculus in high school:

All-College Requirements

Senior Capstone Experience

AP/IB Biology Credit in Biology

Graduation with Distinction & Senior Thesis Information

Senior Seminar Requirements

The Minor in Molecular Biology

The Old Biology - Molecular and Cellular Biology track

Appendix 1 Use of AP or IB credit in Biology, Mathematics, or Chemistry

Appendix 2 Senior Thesis Registration Questionnaire

Description of the Molecular Biology Major

Requirements:

1 unit of organismal biology (Intro to Human Anatomy, Biology of Microbes, Biology of Plants, Biology of Animals).
1 unit of MB 131, Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology or MB 111, FYE Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology.
IB HL of 6 or 7 satisfies this requirement.
BY 131 or BY 232 satisfies this requirement
1 unit of MB 201, Laboratory in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Genetics.
Students who have completed BY 131 cannot take this course (no credit if taken after BY 131)
Requirement waived for students who have completed BY 231 or BY 232
1 unit of MB 231, Genetics. MB201 is a pre-requisite.
Students who have completed BY 131 but not BY 231 place into this course
BY 231 or BY 232 satisfies this requirement
1 unit of 300-level lecture/discussion-based MB elective. These are intended for sophomores and juniors.
Can be satisfied by old BY 300- or 400-level courses with BY 231/232 Genetics as a pre-requisite
1 unit of 400-level lecture/discussion-based MB elective. These are intended for seniors and juniors.
Can be satisfied by old BY 300- or 400-level courses with BY 231/232 Genetics as a pre-requisite
2 units of 300- or 400-level laboratory-rich electives. These can be satisfied through mentored research with an MB professor. Selected non-MB courses can meet one of these two units (see list), but one of these units must be satisfied by an MB course offering.
Can be satisfied by old BY 300- or 400-level courses with BY 231/232 Genetics as a pre-requisite, and which have a laboratory component: BY 499, 475, 466, 453, 409, 391, 380, 359, 309.
List of courses outside MB that can satisfy one (but not two) of these units: Biochemistry I; Biochemistry II; Advanced human anatomy; Human physiology, Advanced exercise physiology; Neuroscience 1; Plant physiology; Population genetics; Techniques in molecular ecology and systematics.
1 unit of elective in the biological sciences; can be satisfied by any MB course for majors (not MB 100, 101, or 111), or BY course for majors (not BY 100), or BE course for majors (not BE 100), or by selected courses in Biochemistry, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Anthropology, or Human Biology and Kinesiology (see list). MB 112 (FYE Microbiology & Biophysics) satisfies this requirement.
List of courses that satisfy this requirement: Biochemistry I; Biochemistry II; Introduction to human anatomy; Advanced human anatomy; Human physiology; Advanced exercise physiology; Mathematical biology; Neuroscience 1; Human evolution; Human Biological Variation; AP score of 5 in Biology.
1 unit of senior capstone in Molecular Biology, MB 497. Satisfied by MB 499 senior thesis in 2015-2016. Satisfied exclusively by MB 497 from 2016-17 forward.
A maximum of 2 units of mentored research such as MB 209, MB 399, MB 498, MB 499, BY 309, BY 409, BY 499, CH 401, and CH 403 can be counted toward the Molecular Biology major.
4 units of Chemistry (CH 107, CH 108, CH 250, and CH 251)
2 units from selected courses in Mathematics, Computer Science, or Physics (Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Statistics (MA 117 or MA 217), Computer Science 1, Computer Science 2, or Physics for the physical sciences). May be satisfied by AP or IB credit recognized by the registrar.
Must attend Molecular Biology Day as a senior
Must participate in Departmental assessment activities such as the senior exit survey and examination
Must complete the senior seminar requirement

Suggestions for completing the 16 units for the major in four years

For students who took calculus in high school:

First Year

CH107; and
MB 131; and
MB 201; and
CH108.
Note: students who did not take calculus in high school are advised to take calculus or statistics before taking any chemistry or molecular biology courses. See p. 4.

Sophomore Year

One unit of organismal biology; and
MB 231; and
CH250; and
CH251; and
Find a Molecular Biology advisor and declare the Molecular Biology major through the registrar’s office.

Junior Year

One 300-level MB discussion course; and
One 300-level MB laboratory intensive course; and
Two units of math/computer science/physics.

Senior Year:

One 400-level MB discussion course; and
One 300- or 400-level MB laboratory intensive course; and
One elective unit in the biological sciences; and
MB 497 (the senior capstone course); and
Required seminar participation; and
Required assessment activities.

Research: It is advisable to complete a research opportunity during at least one of your last two summers in college. Discuss this possibility with your Molecular Biology advisor and see . Positions are highly competitive, so apply broadly.

Study abroad: One semester in the sophomore or junior year recommended. Contact Heather Browne to find a study abroad program that is compatible with a major in Molecular Biology. Heather can also explain how financial aid applies to various study abroad opportunities.

Graduation With Distinction in Biology: In order to be eligible, you must have a high GPA, complete a research project, and write and defend a thesis; see p. 6 for details.

Phi Beta Kappa: In order to be eligible, you must have a high GPA and complete the intermediate college level in a second language (typically 202 or higher; may be an adjunct course) and satisfy certain distribution requirements; see

For students who did not take calculus in high school:

First Year

One unit of math/computer science (preferably Calculus I or MA 117); and
CH 107; and
MB 131; and
CH 108.

Sophomore Year

One unit of organismal biology; and
MB 201; and
CH 250; and
CH 251; and
Find a Molecular Biology advisor and declare the Molecular Biology major through the registrar’s office.

Junior Year

MB 231; and
One 300-level MB discussion course; and
One 300-level MB laboratory intensive course; and
One unit of math/computer science/physics.

Senior Year:

One 400-level MB discussion course; and
One 300- or 400-level MB laboratory intensive course; and
One elective unit in the biological sciences; and
MB 497 (the senior capstone course); and
Required seminar participation; and
Required assessment activities.

Graduation With Distinction in Biology: In order to be eligible, you must have a high GPA, complete a research project, and write and defend a thesis; see p. 6 for details.

All-College Requirements

FYE (2 units)
West in Time (2 units)
Scientific Inquiry (2 units, one with lab/field; satisfied by the MB major)
Social Inequality (1 unit)
Global Cultures (1 unit)
Quantitative reasoning (1 unit; satisfied by the MB major)
Foreign language (2 units)
Note that Phi Beta Kappa honor society requires completion of the intermediate college level in a second language (typically 202 or higher; may be an adjunct course)
Writing requirement
Passed first year portfolio OR
Passed Writing Intensive class OR
Passed Writing in the Disciplines class with writing adjunct

Senior Capstone Experience

Seniors must participate in departmental seminars, as announced at the Fall Majors’ Meeting and/or by email. Stay tuned!
Seniors must participate in(attend or present at) Molecular Biology Day.
Seniors must pass MB 497 (from 2015 onward) or MB 499 (for 2015-16 only; discontinued for 2016-17 forward).
Seniors must participate in assessment activities, as announced at the Fall Majors’ meeting.

AP/IB Biology Credit in Biology

Students with a score of 5 on AP Biology or 5 on Higher Level IB Biology may count that as one unit in the biological sciences. They should enroll in MB 131 after completing the CH 107 pre-requisite.
Students with a score of 6 on IB Higher Level Biology may count that as one unit of MB 131. They should enroll in MB 201 after completing the CH 107 pre-requisite.
Students with a score of 7 on IB Higher Level Biology may count that as one unit of electiveandas one unit ofMB131. They should enroll in MB 201 after completing the CH 107 pre-requisite
To formalize your AP or IB credit counting toward the Molecular Biology degree, you must send your answers to the AP/IB questionnaire in an email to the Molecular Biology Chair, Staff assistant (), and your molecular biology advisor. See Appendix I, p. 9.

Graduation with Distinction & Senior Thesis Information

To graduate with distinction, a student must:

Find a molecular biology research mentor to supervise independent research, or to supervise the writing of a thesis using off-campus research in molecular biology (such as that in an REU program); and
Enroll in one block of MB499 with that research mentor during blocks 1-7 of the senior year; and
Register for the senior thesis with the department in blocks 1 or 2 of the senior year (see Appendix III, p. 10); and
Complete a Molecular Biology senior thesis MB499 with a grade of A- or above; and
Present the thesis in a seminar at Molecular Biology Day; and
Provide a final digital copy of the thesis to Tutt Library; and
Achieve a GPA of at least 3.7 in 12 of the 16 courses taken to fulfill the major. The calculation must include 12 grade track courses.
If a student does not have twelve or more grade track courses because they are a transfer student, a faculty member may nominate the student for consideration for distinction by a departmental vote.

To enroll in BY 499 Senior Thesis, sign up for BY 499 with your molecular biology research mentor during pre-registration of your junior year. Your senior thesis block should be named beginning with the prefix “MB:.” For example, your block might be titled “MB 499: RNA binding proteins and dendrite formation.”

To make sure that the Department knows that you will be presenting your senior thesis at Biology Day, register for the thesis by answering the “senior thesis questionnaire” in an email sent to your research mentor, the Molecular Biology Director, and the Molecular Biology staff assistant, . See Appendix II, p. 10.

You must present your thesis in a 10-15 minute seminar at Molecular Biology Day, where other students and professors will ask you questions about the research. Students attempting to graduate with distinction in December (rather than May) must arrange an alternative way to fulfill this presentation requirement.

By the first Friday of Block 8, the final version of the thesis must be submitted to the library, The student should use their last name and tiger number to log in to the following website: After logging in, they will be prompted with instructions on how to complete the submission. For more information, see

It is also customary to obtain two bound copiers of the thesis, one for the department and one for the thesis supervisor. For detailed directions on how to get these bound copies, see .

Senior Seminar Requirements

During the last two semesters, in order to fulfill the requirements for the major (and in order to graduate), seniors must fulfill the seminar participation required by the Senior Capstone Experience. In order to fulfill this requirement, seniors must:

Attend four research seminars. These will be announced by email and using flyers in the Biology Department. Note that many of these will be in the fall semester – don’t put this off.
Prior to each research seminar, read a publication by the seminar speaker, or a related publication, which will be distributed one week prior to the seminar.
Write a question to ask the author about the work in the publication. Submit this question to A) your advisor and B) the staff assistant in the text of an email PRIOR TO the seminar.
We encourage you to meet with each other to discuss the publication.
We encourage you to bring a copy of your question to the seminar, so that you may ask the speaker your question.
At each seminar, sign in.
If the seminar speaker is invited to have lunch or another gathering with students, it is in your best professional interests to attend such gatherings.
The paraprofessional will reconcile the sign-in sheet with the questions submitted on time to Kelley, to keep track of student progress fulfilling this requirement. Ultimately, however, it is up to each senior to ensure that they fulfill this requirement in order to complete their major and graduate.

The Minor in Molecular Biology

1 unit of MB131 or MB111 (Introduction to molecular & cellular biology)
1 unit of MB201, Laboratory in Molecular & Cellular Biology & Genetics
1 unit of MB231, Genetics
3 units that have MB231 as a pre-requisite

The Old Biology - Molecular and Cellular Biology track

One of the following introductory organismic biology courses
BY/BE105
BY/BE106
BY/BE107 or BY101
Introduction to Molecular and Cellular Biology, BY131 or 2 units of BY232; Courses no longer offered 2015-16; major in Molecular Biology instead.
Genetics, BY231 or 2 units of BY232; courses no longer offered 2015-16; major in Molecular Biology instead.
Four units in Chemistry
CH107 & CH 108
CH250 & CH 251
Two of the following mathematics courses: MA117, 125-6 (counts as one unit toward the requirement) 126, 127, ,129, 217, MA/BY 256; BY/BE 220; EV 228; AP or IB credit, recognized by the registrar, in calculus or statistics
Six approved biology electives
Three must be Biology (BY) courses with BY231 (or BY232 or BY361) as a pre-requisite. Students can petition the department to count up to two units of BY 309, BY 409, or BY 499 toward this requirement provided that they completed BY 231 prior to the independent study and the supervising professor agrees.
One unit of elective credit may be CH241 or CH382
One unit of elective credit may be GY300, PY299, SC301, AN201, AN202, AN301, HK204, HK206, HK304, HK321, PY297, or PY298.
One unit must be a senior capstone course, either MB 497 or MB 499
Any BY course except BY100 and BY104 may count as an elective
BY101 (FYE) counts as one unit of lower-level elective
BY220 counts as EITHER an elective or a unit of math. BY256/MA256 counts as EITHER an elective or a unit of math. Neither course can itself satisfy BOTH a unit of biology elective credit and a unit of math.
Only two units of BY 309, BY 409, BY 499, MB 209, MB 399, MB 498, MB 499 can count toward the major.
It is possible to petition the department to ask for other courses to count as electives.
Research Seminar Participation, as announced at the Fall Majors’ Meeting
Senior capstone experience, as announced at the Fall Majors’ Meeting

VII and VIII for 2015-16 is the same as that for Molecular Biology majors; see p. 5.

Appendix 1 Use of AP or IB credit in Biology, Mathematics, or Chemistry

Type the following questions and your answers to them in the body of an e-mail sent simultaneously to your Molecular Biology advisor, Molecular Biology Director , the Molecular Biology staff assistant, , and yourself. This e-mail will become part of your departmental file, maintained by the staff assistant.

Make sure the subject line of the email is “AP/IB credit”

Do you have AP or IB credit in Biology? Write out one of the following options in the email.
I have a score of 5 on the AP Biology test and I plan to count this as one unit of elective credit in the biological sciences. I understand that I still have to take MB131 after I have completed its CH107 pre-requisite.
I have a score of 5 on the IB Higher Level Biology and I plan to count this as one unit of elective credit in the biological sciences. I understand that I still have to take MB131 after I have completed its CH107 pre-requisite.
I have a score of 6 on IB Higher Level Biology and I plan to count this as one unit of MB 131. I understand that I can enroll in MB 201 after completing CH 107.
I have a score of 7 on IB Higher Level Biology and I plan to count this as one unit of elective credit in the biological sciences and as one unit of MB 131. I can enroll in MB 201 after completing CH 107.
Do you have AP or IB credit in mathematics or chemistry? Write out one of the following options in the email.
The registrar has not awarded me any AP/IB credits in mathematics.
The registrar has awarded me one unit of AP/IB credit in statistics.
The registrar has awarded me one unit of AP/IB credit in calculus.
The registrar has awarded me two or more other AP/IB units in mathematics (please describe….)
The registrar and the Chemistry department have awarded me one or more units in Chemistry (please describe….)

Appendix 2 Senior Thesis Registration Questionnaire

Type the following questions and your answers to them in the body of an e-mail sent simultaneously to your research mentor/senior thesis supervisor, your senior thesis second reader, the Molecular Biology Director , the Molecular Biology staff assistant , and yourself. This e-mail will become part of your departmental file, maintained by the staff assistant.

Make sure the subject line of the email is “Senior Thesis Registration Questionnaire”

Who is your research mentor/senior thesis supervisor?
Who is your senior thesis second reader?
When have you enrolled in MB 499 (block, or two semesters of ½ unit MB 499 adjunct)?
Summarize your thesis research question in 2-4 sentences.
What is the date for Molecular Biology Day?
Is there any reason that you cannot be there on Molecular Biology Day, such as graduating a semester early?
Which twelve grade-track majors’ courses will you use to calculate the GPA needed to graduate with distinction (which is 3.7)?

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