Requirements for the Biology Major

Courses within the Biology Dept:

    BIOL181(or 195)/191 and 182(or 196)/192 - Principles of Biology I and II and Labs

    Six Advanced Elective Courses: All majors must take one elective courses from
    each column below. [Note: No more than four of these courses may be counted towards the major]

Column 1 - Genetics, Genomics,
Cell, Development

Column 2 - Ecology, Evolution, Behavior

  BIOL 210 Genetics and Genomics

   BIOL 214 Evolution

  BIOL 212 Principles & Mechanisms of Cell Biology

   BIOL 216 Ecology

  BIOL 218 Developmental Biology

 +BIOL/NS&B 213 Behavioral Neurobiology
  MB&B 208 Molecular Biology

+BIOL/NSB 213 cannot be credited toward a Biology major if a student is also majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior.

Courses outside the Biology Dept: 
2 semesters required from the following:
  General Chemistry ([141/142] or [143/144])
3 semesters required from any of the following:
  Physics (PHYS 111 or 112 or 113 or 116)
  Organic Chemistry (CHEM 251 or 252)
  Math (117 or higher), Statistics (MATH 132 or BIOL 320/520 or PSYC 200 or QAC 201), Computer Science (COMP 112, COMP 211 or higher)

Please note: Students planning to go on to medical, dental, or other health professions graduate school should note that a year each of introductory biology, physics, and math (such as calculus or statistics) and two years of chemistry (general and organic) are required for admission, including any laboratory components.

  • Four additional electives at the 200, 300 or 500 level may be chosen from among the following courses.  Courses that we do not expect to be offer in the next 2 years (2011-2012 and 2012-2013 are marked with and asterisk (*).  See Wesmaps for updates. [Note: the courses are grouped thematically for your convenience only.]

  • At least two elective courses (200-level and above) that are counted toward the Biology major must be used to fulfill only the Biology major and cannot be simultaneously used to fulfill another major.

GENETICS, GENOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS

PHYSIOLOGY and BEHAVIOR

  BIOL 210 Genetics and Genomics
  BIOL/COMP 265 Bioinformatics Programming
  *BIOL 315/515 Genes in Development
  *BIOL 327/527 Evolutionary & Ecological Bioinformatics
  *BIOL 337/537 Origins of Bacterial Diversity
  BIOL 350/550 Bioinformatics &
     Functional Genomics
  MB&B 208 Molecular Biology
  MB&B 231 Microbiology
  MB&B 294 Lab in Molecular Biology & Genetics
  MB&B 333/533 Gene Regulation

+BIOL/NS&B 213 Behavioral Neurobiology
  BIOL 224 Hormones, Brain and Behavior
  BIOL 235 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy
  *BIOL 239 Brain Anatomy
  BIOL 245 Cellular Neurophysiology
  BIOL 247 Lab in Neurophysiology
  * BIOL/NS&B 250 Lab in Cell/Mol Neurobiology
  BIOL 254 Comparative Animal Behavior
  BIOL/NS&B 345 Developmental Biology
  BIOL/NS&B 351 Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
  BIOL 290 Plant Form and Diversity
  *BIOL 324/524 Neuropharmacology
  *BIOL 347 Mammalian Cortical Circuits         

CELL BIOLOGY & DEVELOPMENT

EVOLUTION, ECOLOGY and CONSERVATION  BIOLOGY

  BIOL 212 Prin & Mech of Cell Biology
  BIOL 218 Developmental Biology
  BIOL 245 Cellular Neurophysiology
  * BIOL 226 Invasive Species: Biology,
       Policy  Management

  MBB/BIOL 237 Signal Transduction
  *BIOL 315/515 Genes in Development
  *BIOL 321 The Cells in Development
  BIOL 325 Stem Cells: Basic Biology to
      Clinical Applications
  BIOL 340/540 Issues in Development &
     Evolution
  BIOL 343/543 Muscle and Nerve Development
  BIOL/NS&B 345/545 Developmental Neurology
  MB&B 232 Immunology
  *MB&B 375 Cell Division Cycle

  BIOL 214 Evolution
  BIOL 216 Ecology
  BIOL 220 Conservation Biology
  BIOL 235 Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy

  BIOL 254 Comparative Animal Behavior
  *BIOL 286 Evolution in Human Altered Environments
   BIOL 290 Plant Form and Diversity*BIOL 306 Tropical  Ecology  and the Environment

  BIOL 312 Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems
  BIOL 316/516 Plant-Animal Interactions
  *BIOL 318/518 Nature and Nurture
 *BIOL 327/527 Evolutionary and Ecological  Bioinformatics
  *BIOL 337/537 Origins of Bacterial Diversity
  BIOL 340/540 Issues in Development & Evolution

+BIOL/NSB 213 cannot be credited toward a Biology major if a student is also majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior.

ADDITIONAL COURSES WHICH MAY BE CREDITED TO THE MAJOR

BIOL 222 Issues to the Health Sciences

BIOL 223 Integration of Clinical Experience and Life Science Learning

BIOL 320/520 Quantitative Methods

E&ES 233 Geobiology

MB&B 383 Biochemistry

Additional information:

  • 400 level courses (research tutorials) are not creditable toward the major, but do
     receive university credit. 

  • With prior permission of the departmental undergraduate liaison (2009-2010: Prof. Jim Donady), up to two life science courses from outside the department or from another institution may be counted toward the major.  Some Wesleyan courses that fall into this category include: MB&B 227 (Cell Anatomy and Physiology); MB&B 334 (Gene Expression, the Translation Step); MB&B 337(Molecular Basis of Pathogenicity).

  • Research done with non-Wesleyan faculty at other institutions does not receive
    Wesleyan credit.

  • Bio majors are allowed to apply at most one elective course taken Pass/Fail toward fulfilling the major requirements; however this is discouraged because good performance in major courses is an important aspect of a student's transcript.

See Wesmaps for more information regarding the courses .