Biochemistry, Minor

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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. Only two of the courses applied to the minor may also be applied to major requirements. 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), 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)

CHEM 209 - Organic Chemistry II (3) or
CHEM 307 - Organic Chemistry II for Life Sciences (3)
and
BIOL 225 - Introduction to Molecules, Cells, Development (3)
and either
BIOL 220 - Introduction to Organisms, Ecology, Evolution (3) or one of
CHEM 305 - Inorganic and General Chemistry II (3) or
CHEM 308 - General Chemistry II for Life Sciences (3) or
CHEM 335 - Freshman Honors Chemistry (3)
and either
CHEM 414 - Biochemistry (3) or
BIOL 414 - Biochemistry (3)

Additional Prerequisites (9 credits):

CHEM 103 - General Chemistry I (3)
and
CHEM 206 - Organic Chemistry I (3)
and either
BIOL 220 - Introduction to Organisms, Ecology, Evolution (3) or one of
CHEM 305 - Inorganic and General Chemistry II (3) or
CHEM 308 - General Chemistry II for Life Sciences (3) or
CHEM 335 - Freshman Honors Chemistry (3)
and possibly additional Mathematics or Biology courses depending on electives chosen

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 an 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)
BIOL 453 - Protein Structure and Function (3)
CHEM 309 - Instrumental Analysis (3)
CHEM 341 - Physical Chemistry for Life Sciences (3)
CHEM 415 - Advanced Biochemistry (3)
CHEM 417 - Neurochemistry (3)
CHEM 419 - Bioinorganic Chemistry (3)
CHEM 453 - Protein Structure and Function (3)

Additional Guidelines:

If a student with an AP Biology score of 5 elects not to take BIOL 220, the 4 credit Biology elective may count towards the Biochemistry minor. If the student takes BIOL 220, the Biology elective does not count towards the minor. Students with an exemption from BIOL 225 may either elect to take it for credit or take an additional Biochemistry minor Biology elective to obtain sufficient credits for the minor.

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.

Semester course scheduling may vary depending on staff availability, 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 should 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.