Biology, Genetics and Biotechnology Concentration, B.S.

Department of Biology
615-898-2847
Matt Elrod-Erickson, program coordinator
Matt.Elrod-Erickson@mtsu.edu

The major in Biology requires 42 semester hours including a biology core for all concentrations of 29 semester hours:

BIOL 1110 /BIOL 1111 and BIOL 1120 /BIOL 1121 ;
BIOL 2230 /BIOL 2231 , BIOL 3250 /BIOL 3251 , BIOL 3400 /BIOL 3401 , BIOL 3500 , BIOL 4200 ;
BIOL 4110 /BIOL 4111 or BIOL 4210 /BIOL 4211 or BIOL 4500 .

Other requirements include

MATH 1910 and one of the following: BIOL 4350 /BIOL 4351 or MATH 2050 or MATH 1920 ;
12 hours of chemistry (CHEM 1110 /CHEM 1111 , CHEM 1120 /CHEM 1121 , and CHEM 2030 /CHEM 2031 or CHEM 3010 /CHEM 3011 ).

All Biology majors are assigned a faculty advisor through the Biology Department Office. The student is responsible for seeking the assistance of the advisor. This catalog is not intended to provide the detail necessary for self-advising.

Every Biology major is required to declare a concentration area. Each area requires semester hours to be selected from a set of designated courses.

Concentration Requirements

BIOL 4550 - Biotechnology 3 credit hours
BIOL 4450 - Molecular Genetics 4 credit hours
OR
BIOL 4460 - Human Genetics 3 credit hours AND
BIOL 4461 - Human Genetics Lab 0 credit hours

One course selected from:

BIOL 4270 - Transmitting Electron Microscopy 4 credit hours
BIOL 4290 - Scanning Electron Microscopy 4 credit hours
BIOL 4300 - Immunology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4301 - Immunology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4450 - Molecular Genetics 4 credit hours
BIOL 4460 - Human Genetics 3 credit hours AND
BIOL 4461 - Human Genetics Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4510 - Food and Industrial Microbiology 4 credit hours
BIOL 4570 - Principles of Toxicology 3 credit hours AND
BIOL 4571 - Principles of Toxicology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4720 - Animal Development 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4721 - Animal Development Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4750 - Plant Biotechnology 4 credit hours

Curriculum: Biology, Genetics and Biotechnology

Curricular listings include General Education requirements in Communication, History, Humanities, and/or Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social/Behavioral Sciences categories.

Freshman

ENGL 1010 - Expository Writing 3 credit hours (Comm)
ENGL 1020 - Research and Argumentative Writing 3 credit hours (Comm)
COMM 2200 - Fundamentals of Communication 3 credit hours (Comm)
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours (Math)
BIOL 1110 - General Biology 4 credit hours (Nat Sci) AND
BIOL 1111 - General Biology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 1120 - General Biology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1121 - General Biology Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry I 4 credit hours (Nat Sci) AND
CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours

Subtotal: 29 Hours

Sophomore

ENGL 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture 3 credit hours (Hum/FA) OR
ENGL 2030 - The Experience of Literature 3 credit hours (Hum/FA) OR
HUM 2610 - Foreign Literature in Translation 3 credit hours (Hum/FA)
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 3 credit hours
Minor course 3 credit hours
Upper-division elective 3 credit hours
BIOL 2230 - Microbiology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 2231 - Microbiology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 3250 - Genetics 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 3251 - Genetics Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 3010 - Organic Chemistry I 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 3011 - Organic Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours
OR
CHEM 2030 - Elements of Organic Chemistry 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 2031 - Elements of Organic Chemistry Lab 0 credit hours
Choose 6 hours from:
HIST 2010 - Survey of United States History I 3 credit hours
HIST 2020 - Survey of United States History II 3 credit hours
HIST 2030 - Tennessee History 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 30 Hours

Junior

BIOL 3500 - Evolution 3 credit hours
BIOL 4550 - Biotechnology 3 credit hours
Social/Behavioral Sciences (2 prefixes) 6 credit hours
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 3 credit hours
Upper-division minor course 3 credit hours
Upper-division minor or elective course 3 credit hours
BIOL 3400 - General Ecology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 3401 - General Ecology Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 4110 - General Physiology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4111 - General Physiology Lab 0 credit hours
OR
BIOL 4210 - Cell and Molecular Biology 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4211 - Cell and Molecular Biology Lab 0 credit hours
OR
BIOL 4500 - Plant Physiology 4 credit hours
BIOL 4350 - Biometry 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 4351 - Biometry Lab 0 credit hours
OR
MATH 1920 - Calculus II 4 credit hours
OR
MATH 2050 - Probability and Statistics 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 32-33 Hours

Senior

BIOL 4200 - Seminar 2 credit hours
BIOL 4450 - Molecular Genetics 4 credit hours
OR
BIOL 4460 - Human Genetics 3 credit hours AND
BIOL 4461 - Human Genetics Lab 0 credit hours
Concentration elective (choose from list above) 3 credit hours
Upper-division BIOL 4 credit hours
Upper-division minor or elective courses 6-9 credit hours
Elective (3000-4000 level) course 3 credit hours
Elective course 3-6 credit hours