Biology

Recent technological breakthroughs in DNA sequencing mean that scientists can characterize an organism’s entire genome in a matter of days. But a great challenge remains in translating that genomic sequence — nature’s data set — into biology.

That translation is fundamentally changing how we study biology.

In the data science domain area of biology, you will find yourself on the cutting edge of the field, working in the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data and how it applies to gene function, disease, ecology, and the assembly and characterization of new genomes.

Domain Requirements

You will take at least two biology domain core courses and four courses from the electives menu.

Biology Core Courses (you must take at least two)

course title quarter offered*
BI 211 General Biology I - Cells Fall, Winter, Summer
BI 212 General Biology II - Organisms Winter, Spring, Summer
BI 213 General Biology III - Populations Fall, Spring, Summer

Biology Electives (choose four)

course title quarter offered*
BI 320 Molecular Genetics Fall, Spring
BI 360 Neurobiology Fall, Spring
BI 370 Ecology Winter
BI 410 Data Management & Visualization Winter
BI 410 Neural Data Analysis Spring
BI 471 Population Ecology Spring
Bi 485 Techniques in Computational Neuroscience Not offered in 22/23
DSCI 411*** Data Science Capstone  

* Course schedules are subject to change.

** Students with a GPA of 3.75 or higher overall in all data science degree courses are eligible.