Biochemistry, Minor

Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) |

A minor in biochemistry requires successful completion of a minimum of 18 credit hours consisting of a 12 credit core and 6 credits in electives. In addition, at least 9 hours in prerequisites must be completed.

Declaration of a Biochemistry minor must occur after declaring an academic major and should occur before the beginning of preregistration for final semester senior year classes to ensure timely filing with the Office of the Registrar. Declaration of the Biochemistry minor involves completing the two forms provided below, obtaining approval signatures from any member of the Biochemistry Advisory Committee [Bebout (Director, Chemistry), Coleman (Chemistry), Hinton (Biology), Landino (Chemistry) or Shakes (Biology), Young (Chemistry)], and submitting both forms with an unofficial transcript to the Director of Interdisciplinary Studies (Professor Schwartz in the Charles Center).

Biochemistry Minor Declaration Form (pdf)
Declaration of Academic Minor Form (pdf)

Required Core (12 or More Credits)

Only two of these four courses below can be applied to both a major and a minor. The minor requires 9 or more additional credits in prerequisites:

and either

CHEM 209 - Organic Chemistry II (3) or
CHEM 307 - Organic Chemistry II for Life Sciences (3)
BIOL 225 - Introduction to Molecules, Cells, Development (3)
CHEM 414 - Biochemistry (3) or
BIOL 414 - Biochemistry (3)

One of the Following:

Electives (6 or More Credits)

Students must select two additional courses from those listed below which are not offered by their major department; students majoring in neither Biology nor Chemistry must select one Biology course and one Chemistry course. Some electives have optional laboratory component.

BIOL 306 - Microbiology (4)
BIOL 310 - Molecular Cell Biology (3)
BIOL 345 - Neurobiology (3)
BIOL 415 - General Endocrinology (3)
BIOL 420 - Genetic Analysis (3)
BIOL 433 - Developmental Biology (3)
BIOL 437 - Immunology (3)
BIOL 442 - Molecular Genetics (3)
CHEM 309 - Instrumental Analysis (3)
CHEM 341 - Physical Chemistry for Life Sciences (3)
CHEM 415 - Advanced Biochemistry (3)
CHEM 417 - Neurochemistry (3)

Additional Guidelines:

Non-chemistry majors considering the Biochemistry minor may also wish to consider the Chemistry Minor, which takes only two courses beyond the two-year introductory sequence in Chemistry rather than three. Since the Chemistry Minor electives include CHEM 309 , CHEM 341 and CHEM 414 , students anticipating scheduling difficulties that may preclude them from completing the Biochemistry Minor may want to fulfill the requirements for a Chemistry Minor first.

Courses are typically only offered during the semesters indicated above, and in some cases there are time conflicts.

Be certain you will have met course prerequisites by the time you plan to enroll in a course.

Declaration of the Biochemistry Minor must be submitted to the Charles Center before the beginning of preregistration for the final semester of the student’s senior year.

A student with two majors may not declare a minor. Only one minor may be declared.

A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required in the courses which are to be counted toward the minor, and none may have been taken pass/fail.

You may count up to two courses toward both a major and a minor.