The Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics emphasis area focuses on understanding the molecular basis for how genes function in organisms at the cellular and organismal levels, as well as on understanding the processes that modulate molecular and phenotypic variation in the diverse organisms of the earth. Students, in collaboration with a faculty mentor, conduct original research ranging the molecular to the population level in a wide range of model systems.
Courses
In addition to the core courses, all students in the Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics option take three credits of either:
- BIOL 428 Population Genetics or BIOL 405 Molecular Evolution
All Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics students complete three credits of quantitative analysis. Examples of quantitative courses:
- STAT 500 Applied Statistics
- STAT 501 Regression Methods
- STAT 502 Analysis of Variance and Design of Experiments
- STAT 555 Statistical Analysis of Genomics Data
- BMMB/MCIBS 551 Genomics
- BMMB 852 Applied Bioinformatics
The remaining six credits come from elective courses determined by the student and their research supervisor. Examples of elective courses:
- BMMB 541 Molecular Biology of Animal Development
- BMMB 542 Eukaryotic Cell Biology
- BMMB 543 Current Topics in Gene Regulation
- BMMB 554 Foundations in Data-Driven Life Sciences