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Program Requirements

The Liberal Program - Core Science Component Biology is a flexible program focusing on the fundamentals of biology. Topics include a range of biological concepts spanning molecules and cells to organisms and ecosystems, including development, behaviour and evolution. This program is well suited to students with varied interests who do not want to focus solely on biology in their studies.

Students may complete this program with a minimum of 45 credits or a maximum of 47 credits depending on their choice of complementary courses.

Required Courses (24 credits)

• BIOL 200 Molecular Biology (3 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : The physical and chemical properties of the cell and its components in relation to their structure and function. Topics include: protein structure, enzymes and enzyme kinetics; nucleic acid replication, transcription and translation; the genetic code, mutation, recombination, and regulation of gene expression.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Champetier, Serge; Roy, Richard D W; Hastings, Kenneth E M; Lasko, Paul (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lecture, 1 hour optional tutorial

  • Prerequisite: BIOL 112 or equivalent

  • Corequisite: CHEM 212 or equivalent, or CHEM 204

• BIOL 201 Cell Biology and Metabolism (3 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : This course introduces the student to our modern understanding of cells and how they work. Major topics to be covered include: photosynthesis, energy metabolism and metabolic integration; plasma membrane including secretion, endocytosis and contact mediated interactions between cells; cytoskeleton including cell and organelle movement; the nervous system; hormone signaling; the cell cycle.

  Terms: Winter 2024

  Instructors: Western, Tamara; Dent, Joseph Alan; Hekimi, Siegfried; Zheng, Huanquan; Champetier, Serge (Winter)

  • Winter

  • 3 hours lecture, 1 hour optional tutorial

  • Prerequisite: BIOL 200.

  • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking ANAT 212 or BIOC 212

• BIOL 205 Functional Biology of Plants and Animals (3 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : Unified view of form and function in animals and plants. Focus on how the laws of chemistry and physics illuminate biological processes relating to the acquisition of energy and materials and their use in movement, growth, development, reproduction and responses to environmental stress.

  Terms: Winter 2024

  Instructors: Sakata, Jon; Barrett, Rowan; Soper, Fiona (Winter)

  • Winter

  • 3 hours lecture, optional conference hour

  • Prerequisites: BIOL 200 and PHYS 101 or 131 or equivalent

  • Corequisite: ANAT 212/BIOC 212 or BIOL 201

• BIOL 206 Methods in Biology (3 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : Introduction to modern methods used in organismal biology, including ecological sampling, experimental methods and statistics. Particular emphasis is on ways of thinking about the design of sampling programs and the analyses of data to test hypotheses using observational or experimental data.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Pollock, Laura; Larsson, Hans Carl; Leung, Brian (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 1. 2 hours lecture, 2. 3 hours laboratory

  • Prerequisite: BIOL 111 or equivalent

• BIOL 215 Introduction to Ecology and Evolution (3 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : An introduction to the fundamental processes of ecology and evolution that bear on the nature and diversity of organisms and the processes that govern their assembly into ecological communities and their roles in ecosystem function.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Abouheif, Ehab; Sunday, Jennifer (Fall)

  • Fall

  • 3 hours lecture

  • Prerequisite: BIOL 111

  • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ENVR 202

• BIOL 216 Biology of Behaviour (3 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : Introduction to the study of animal behaviour at the population, organismal, cellular, and molecular levels. Historical and contemporary methods and experiments will be presented and discussed to provide an overall appreciation of the biology of behaviour, with a focus on the application of multiple levels of analysis to biological phenomena and the formulation of hypotheses about evolution, development, function, and mechanisms of behavioural traits. Topics will range from how animals communicate with one another to the cellular mechanisms that allow information to be processed by nervous systems.

  Terms: Winter 2024

  Instructors: Hendricks, Michael; Woolley, Sarah; Guigueno, Mélanie (Winter)

  • Prerequisites: BIOL 111 and BIOL 112 or equivalents

• BIOL 302 Fundamentals of Genetics and Genomics (3 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : Trait variation within and across populations and species,and how this reflects variation within genomes. Case studies and problem-solving approaches will be used to illustrate the tools of genomics, molecular genetics and classical genetics, and how they are employed to understand the mechanisms of phenotypic variation.Topics will include evolutionary, developmental and human genetics. Application of multiple levels of genetic analysis, formulation, and testing of hypotheses on critical topics ranging from evolution to developmental biology to human genetics.

  Terms: Fall 2023

  Instructors: Schoen, Daniel J; Lasko, Paul; Western, Tamara (Fall)

  • Prerequisites: BIOL 200 or BIOL 219; BIOL 215, or permission of instructor.

  • Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken or are taking BIOL202.

• COMP 204 Computer Programming for Life Sciences (3 credits)

  Offered by: Computer Science (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Computer Science (Sci) : Computer Science (Sci): Computer programming in a high level language: variables, expressions, types, functions, conditionals, loops, objects and classes. Introduction to algorithms, modular software design, libraries, file input/output, debugging. Emphasis on applications in the life sciences.

  Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024

  Instructors: Becerra, David; Blanchette, Mathieu (Fall) Becerra, David (Winter)

  • Prerequisite(s): CEGEP level mathematics course.

  • Co-requisite: BIOL 112

  • Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken or are taking COMP 202, COMP 208, or GEOG 333; not open to students who have taken or are taking COMP 206 or COMP 250.

Complementary Courses (21-23 credits)

Core (6-8 credits)

3 or 4 credits selected from:

• CHEM 204 Physical Chemistry/Biological Sciences 1 (3 credits)

  Offered by: Chemistry (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Chemistry : Similar to CHEM 223/CHEM 243. Emphasis on the use of biological examples to illustrate the principles of physical chemistry. The relevance of physical chemistry to biology is stressed.

  Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024

  Instructors: Cosa, Gonzalo (Fall) Caire da Silva, Lucas (Winter)

  • Fall, Winter

  • Prerequisites: CHEM 110 and CHEM 120 or equivalent and one full course in calculus

  • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking CHEM 203 or CHEM 213.

• CHEM 212 Introductory Organic Chemistry 1 (4 credits) *

  Offered by: Chemistry (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Chemistry : A survey of reactions of aliphatic and aromatic compounds including modern concepts of bonding, mechanisms, conformational analysis, and stereochemistry.

  Terms: Fall 2023, Summer 2024

  Instructors: Pavelka, Laura; Luedtke, Nathan; Vlaho, Danielle; Huot, Mitchell (Fall) Vlaho, Danielle; Gauthier, Jean-Marc; Huot, Mitchell; Denisova, Irina; Pavelka, Laura (Summer)

  • Fall, Winter, Summer

  • Prerequisite: CHEM 110 or equivalent.

  • Corequisite: CHEM 120 or equivalent.

  • Restriction: Not open to students who are taking or have taken CHEM 211 or equivalent

  • Each lab section is limited enrolment

  • Note: Some CEGEP programs provide equivalency for this course. For more information, please see the Department of Chemistry's Web page ().

  • **Due to the intensive nature of this course, the standard add/drop and withdrawal deadlines do not apply. Add/drop is the second lecture day and withdrawal is the fourth lecture day.

* If a student has already taken CHEM 212 or its equivalent, the credits can be made up with CHEM 204, CHEM 222, or a 3- or 4-credit Biology complementary course to be approved by the Biology Adviser.

3 or 4 credits selected from:

• BIOL 301 Cell and Molecular Laboratory (4 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : An introduction to biology research and communication with a focus on cell and molecular biology. Through conducting a series of project-based experiments and writing a final report, molecular and synthetic biology techniques such as gene cloning, manipulation, protein isolation and characterization and how research is conducted, analyzed and communicated will be addressed. In addition, an introduction to bioinformatics methods and their role in analysis will be provided.

  Terms: Fall 2023, Winter 2024

  Instructors: Reyes Lamothe, Rodrigo; Harrison, Paul; Leroux, Maxime (Fall) Hayer, Arnold; Harrison, Paul; Leroux, Maxime (Winter)

  • Fall or Winter

  • 1 hour lecture and one 6-hour laboratory

  • Prerequisites: BIOL 200, BIOL 201 (or ANAT 212/BIOC 212); or BIOL 219

  • Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken or are taking BIOC 300, or BIOC 220 and BIOC 320. Requires departmental approval.

  • For approval email maxime.leroux [at] mcgill.ca. Specify your ID number as well as the term and two lab day preferences.

• BIOL 311 Advanced Methods in Organismal Biology (3 credits)

  Offered by: Biology (Faculty of Science)

  Overview

  Biology (Sci) : Application of methods and techniques used by organismal biologists, paired with the design of sampling programs to test hypotheses using observational or experimental data, and the analysis of data. Topics include DNA barcoding/metabarcoding and experimental evolution.

  Terms: Winter 2024

  Instructors: Turney, Shaun; Schoen, Daniel J; Cristescu, Elena; Fussmann, Gregor (Winter)

  • Prerequisites: BIOL 200 or BIOL 219; BIOL 206, COMP 204, and BIOL 202 or BIOL 302.

  • Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken BIOL 206 prior to Fall 2020

Other (15 credits)
15 credits of Biology complementary courses at the 300-500 levels, including at least 3 credits at the 400-500 levels. Up to 6 credits may be from non-BIOL science courses, with Adviser permission. Up to 6 credits of independent research may be included.