Program: Biochemistry, B.S. - Middle Tennessee State University

Apr 04, 2025

2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Department of Chemistry
615-898-5466
Paul Kline, program coordinator
Paul.Kline@mtsu.edu

A Biochemistry degree can not only prepare students for professional careers as chemists; it may also serve as the basis for work in areas outside pure chemistry, such as materials science, medicine and other health-related fields, nutrition, pharmacology, patent law, business, and environmental science, to name a few.

Academic Map

Following is a printable, suggested four-year schedule of courses:

Biochemistry, B.S., Academic Map

Degree Requirements

True Blue Core	41 hours
Major Requirements	57 hours*
Supporting Courses	12 hours*
Electives	10-21 hours
TOTAL	120 hours

*This program requires courses that can also fulfill requirements of the True Blue Core curriculum. If program requirements are also used to fulfill True Blue Core requirements, the number of elective hours will increase.

True Blue Core (41 hours)

True Blue Core (TBC) requirements (shown in curricular listings below) include courses in the Foundational Skills areas of Written Communication (WC), Information Literacy (Info Lit), Non-Written Communication (NWC), and Quantitative Literacy (Quant Lit). Knowledge Domains include Human Society and Social Relationships (HSSR), Scientific Literacy (Sci Lit), Creativity and Cultural Expression (CCE), and History and Civic Learning (HCL), which include Discovery and Explorations categories. Students must choose at least one course from each Discovery category.

The following courses required by the major meet True Blue Core requirements:

MATH 1910 (Quant Lit) (See Note 1)
BIOL 1110 /BIOL 1111 (Sci Lit)
CHEM 1110 /CHEM 1111 (Sci Lit) (See Note 2)

Major Requirements (57 hours)

CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry I 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours (may be counted in the True Blue Core)
CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 3010 - Organic Chemistry I 3 credit hours AND
CHEM 3011 - Organic Chemistry I Lab 1 credit hour
CHEM 3020 - Organic Chemistry II 3 credit hours AND
CHEM 3021 - Organic Chemistry II Lab 1 credit hour
CHEM 4330 - Physical Chemistry Fundamentals I 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 4331 - Physical Chemistry Fundamentals I Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 4500 - Biochemistry I 3 credit hours
CHEM 4510 - Biochemistry II 3 credit hours
CHEM 4530 - Biochemical Techniques 2 credit hours OR
CHEM 4570 - Biochemical Literature 2 credit hours
CHEM 4550 - Bioanalytical Chemistry 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 4551 - Bioanalytical Chemistry Lab 0 credit hours
BIOL 1110 - General Biology I 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1111 - General Biology I Lab 0 credit hours (may be counted in the True Blue Core)
BIOL 1120 - General Biology II 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1121 - General Biology II Lab 0 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
BIOL/CHEM upper-division electives 9 credit hours (minimum of 3 credit hours in each discipline)

Supporting Courses (12 hours)

PHYS 2010 - Non-Calculus-Based Physics I 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2011 - Physics Problems Laboratory I 4 credit hours
OR
PHYS 2110 - Calculus-Based Physics I 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2111 - Calculus-Based Physics Laboratory I 4 credit hours
PHYS 2020 - Non-Calculus-Based Physics II 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2021 - Physics Problems Laboratory II 4 credit hours
OR
PHYS 2120 - Calculus-Based Physics II 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2121 - Calculus-Based Physics Laboratory II 4 credit hours
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours (3 credit hours may be counted in the True Blue Core, 1 credit hour remaining)

Electives (10-21 hours)

A minimum of 36 hours must be at the 3000/4000 level

Curriculum: Biochemistry

Freshman

Written Communication 3 credit hours
Information Literacy 3 credit hours
History and Civic Learning 6 credit hours
CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry I 4 credit hours (Sci Lit) (See Note 1) AND
CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours (Sci Lit) (See Note 1)
CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry II 4 credit hours (See Note 2) AND
CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours (See Note 2)
BIOL 1110 - General Biology I 4 credit hours (Sci Lit) AND
BIOL 1111 - General Biology I Lab 0 credit hours (Sci Lit)
BIOL 1120 - General Biology II 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1121 - General Biology II Lab 0 credit hours

Subtotal: 28 Hours

Sophomore

Creativity and Cultural Expression Literature 3 credit hours
Non-Written Communication 3 credit hours
Human Society and Social Relationships 3 credit hours
Elective 1 credit hour
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 3 credit hours AND
CHEM 3011 - Organic Chemistry I Lab 1 credit hour
CHEM 3020 - Organic Chemistry II 3 credit hours AND
CHEM 3021 - Organic Chemistry II Lab 1 credit hour
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours (Quant Lit)

Subtotal: 30 Hours

Junior

CHEM 4500 - Biochemistry I 3 credit hours
CHEM 4510 - Biochemistry II 3 credit hours
PHYS 2010 - Non-Calculus-Based Physics I 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2011 - Physics Problems Laboratory I 4 credit hours
PHYS 2020 - Non-Calculus-Based Physics II 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2021 - Physics Problems Laboratory II 4 credit hours
CHEM 4550 - Bioanalytical Chemistry 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 4551 - Bioanalytical Chemistry Lab 0 credit hours
Creativity and Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
Human Society and Social Relationships 3 credit hours
Electives 5 credit hours
BIOL elective (upper-division) 3 credit hours

Subtotal: 32 Hours

Senior

CHEM 4330 - Physical Chemistry Fundamentals I 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 4331 - Physical Chemistry Fundamentals I Lab 0 credit hours
CHEM 4530 - Biochemical Techniques 2 credit hours OR
CHEM 4570 - Biochemical Literature 2 credit hours
CHEM upper-division elective 3 credit hours
BIOL/CHEM upper-division elective 3 credit hours
Creativity and Cultural Expression 3 credit hours
Upper-division elective 1 credit hour
Electives 14 credit hours

Subtotal: 30 Hours

NOTE:

Included in the electives will be the hours necessary for the completion of the required 36 upper-division hours for graduation requirements and the necessary hours to satisfy the 120-hour graduation requirement.

NOTE 1: A student who has a sufficiently high score on the ACT Mathematics test may begin with MATH 1910 . If the background in math is weak, MATH 1710 should be taken before MATH 1730 .

NOTE 2: A student who has had little or no high school chemistry or is not satisfied with his/her high school chemistry should first take CHEM 1010 /CHEM 1011 before taking CHEM 1110 /CHEM 1111 .