Program Overview

Introduction to the BS in Biology Program

The Biology major offers interdisciplinary learning and foundational skills that students carry with them beyond Tufts. It attracts students interested in career areas that include medicine, biotechnology, conservation, education, consulting, law, basic and applied research. The learning objectives of our undergraduate Biology program are active, as we work with students to do the following:

• be exposed to trends in evolution, cell biology, information and nutrient flow at the level of cells, organisms, and ecosystems.
• predict and identify interconnections between diverse life forms
• develop technical experience with laboratory protocols
• define problems, and design experiments to solve them
• generate, analyze, and communicate data, in oral and written formats
• evaluate professional literature and relate published data to their own topic
• manage and analyze large data sets
• identify ethical considerations and societal outcomes in research and technical advancement

Program Requirements and Policies

• All biology courses for the major must be numbered 13 or higher and must be 3 SHUs or more (including related field courses).
• Twelve courses are required to complete the major, including ten courses in biology numbered 13 or higher (with the exception of Biology 91 and 93), and either two courses in chemistry or two courses in physics.
• At least five of the ten biology courses must be taken at Tufts, and at least seven must be completed with a grade of C- or better.
• It is recommended that students take at least one seminar course.
• In addition, at least two courses in biology must include laboratory study, and one of these must be above the level of Biology 15.
• Biology 193 normally may be used as only one of the ten biology courses for completion of the concentration requirements; on approval of a petition to the department, a maximum of two such courses may be applied toward the major.
• No major course may be taken Pass/Fail.
• Only one introductory statistics course can be used for the biology major.

Course Requirements

Specific courses which satisfy the biology major requirements, are as follows:

I. Required Core Courses

• Biology 13: Cells and Organisms
• Biology 14 w/Lab: Organisms and Populations
• Biology 15: Cells and Organisms Lab
• Biology 41: General Genetics

II. One Course in Biology of Cells ("Group A")

• Bio 46: Cell Biology
• Bio 61: Biology of Aging
• Bio 65: Cancer Biology
• Bio 103: Developmental Biology
• Bio 104: Immunology
• Bio 105: Molecular Biology
• Bio 106: Microbiology Lecture
• Bio 109: Virology
• Bio 143: Evolutionary Biology
• Bio 152: Biochemistry & Cellular Metabolism
• Bio 156: Biophysics of Macromolecules
• Bio 162: Introduction to Biotechnology
• Bio 163: Recombinant DNA Technology
• Bio 171: Advanced Genetics: DNA Repair
• Bio 178: Seminar in Immunology
• Bio 184: Topics in Developmental Biology
• Bio 188: Seminar in Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Bio 190: Seminar in DNA: Structure to Function
• Bio 191: Protein Structure and Function
• Bio 243: Seminar in Molecular/Cellular Biology
• Chem 171: Biochemistry I
• Chem 172: Biochemistry II

III. One Course in Biology of Organisms ("Group B")

• Bio 75: Comparative Vertebrate Physiology
• Bio 108: Plant Development
• Bio 110: Endocrinology
• Bio 112: Exercise Physiology
• Bio 115: Physiology- Circulation, Respiration, and Renal
• Bio 116: Physiology- Endocrine, Neural, and Digestion
• Bio 117: Physiology of Movement
• Bio 118: Plant Physiology
• Bio 122: Regeneration in Biology: From Nature to Medicine
• Bio 134: Neurobiology
• Bio 186: Seminar in Field Endocrinology
• Bio 246: Topics in Physiology of Animal Behavior

IV. One Course in Biology of Populations ("Group C")

• Bio 35: Computational Biology
• Bio 44: Primate Social Behavior
• Bio 106: Microbiology
• Bio 130: Animal Behavior
• Bio 133: Ecological Statistics & Data w/ Lab
• Bio 142: Population & Community Ecology
• Bio 143: Evolutionary Biology
• Bio 144: Principles of Conservation Biology
• Bio 145: Computational Genomics
• Bio 164: Marine Biology
• Bio 179: Seminar in Marine Biology
• Bio 180 Seminar in Conservation Biology
• Bio 181: Tropical Ecology & Conservation
• Bio 182: Chimpanzee Behavioral Ecology
• Bio 183: Seminar in Darwinian Medicine
• Bio 185: Food4All- Ecology, Biotechnology & Sustainability
• Bio 244: Seminar in Evolutionary Ecology

V. One Course in Quantitative Biology ("Group Q")

• Bio 35: Computational Biology
• Bio 40/Comp 7: Bioinformatics
• Bio 117: Physiology of Movement
• Bio 119: Biophysics
• Bio/Math 121: Mathematical Neuroscience
• Bio 132: Biostatistics
• Bio 133: Ecological Statistics and Data w/ Lab
• Bio 137: R and Programming for STEM
• Bio 143: Evolutionary Biology
• Bio 145: Computational Genomics
• Bio 263: Bioinformatics and Genome Analysis
• BME 141: Analytical Tools for Biomedical Engineering
• Math: 21: Introductory Statistics
• PSY 31: Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
• CEE 006: Fundamentals of Biostatistics
• CEE 154: Principles of Epidemiology
• CEE 156: Principles of Biostatistics
• CEE 194: Special Topics – Remote Sensing
• Comp 167: Computational Biology
• CSHD 140: Problems of Research: Statistics
• GIS 101: Intro to GIS
• GIS 102: Advanced GIS
• CS 169: Statistical Bioinformatics

VI & VII. Two Electives

Choose 2 unused courses from the lists under sections II-VIII

• Bio 131: Principles of Medical Imaging
• Bio 193: Independent Research in Biology
• Bio 195: Topics in Biology
• Bio 196: Selected Topics
• Bio 199 A/B: Senior Honors Thesis
• Chem 171 Biochemistry I
• Chem 172 Biochemistry II

VIII. Advanced Laboratory Course

• Bio 40/Comp 7: Bioinformatics
• Bio 44: Primate Social Behavior
• Bio 49: Experiments in Physiology
• Bio 50: Experiments in Molecular Biology
• Bio 51: Experiments in Ecology
• Bio 52: Experiments in Cell Biology
• Bio 54: Molecular Genetics Projects Lab
• Bio 55: Microbiome Research Lab
• Bio 56: Dev Bio Research Lab
• Bio 107: Microbiology Lab
• Bio 133: Ecological Statistics and Data w/ Lab
• Bio 143: Evolutionary Biology
• Bio 145: Computational Genomics
• Bio 163: Recombinant DNA Techniques
• Bio 168: Biotechnology Projects Laboratory
• Bio 181: Tropical Ecology and Conservation
• Bio 193: Independent Research in Biology
• Bio 199: Senior Honors Thesis

IX. Related Field Courses: Choose 2 Courses in Chemistry OR 2 Courses in Physics

• Chem 1: Chemical Fundamentals w/Lab
• Chem 2: Chemical Principles w/Lab
• Chem 11: General Chemistry
• Chem 12: General Chemistry
• Chem 51: Organic Chemistry I
• Chem 52: Organic Chemistry II
• Physics 1: introductory Physics w/Lab
• Physics 2: Introductory Physics w/Lab
• Physics 11: General Physics I w/Lab
• Physics 12: General Physics II w/Lab

Other Programs Offered

• BS in Biochemistry
• BA/BS in Biopsychology
• BA/BS in Biotechnology (co-major)
• Minor in Biotechnology
• Environmental Studies Program
• Fifth-Year Master’s Degree Program: BS/MS in Biology
• MS in Biology
• PhD in Biology