Before you apply to the Minor in Biomedical Research, you must take one of the following introductory courses. These classes use different formats to expose you to concepts central to scientific research. Each class is designed to be accessible to beginning students as early as their first year of college. Check the course catalog for more complete descriptions. The introductory courses are:
Biomedical Research 5HA – Biomedical Research: Concepts and Strategies. In this “research deconstruction” course, outstanding research faculty are invited to deliver a seminar on cutting edge research recently conducted in their laboratory. Each seminar is videotaped and used by the instructor as a platform for a series of classes that explore fundamental concepts and experimental approaches employed in the research. Following the series of “deconstruction” classes, the speaker returns for an hour-long question and answer session with the students.
Biomedical Research 10H – Research Training in Genes, Genetics and Genomics. This discovery-based research course gives students hands-on experience in a laboratory research environment. Students in BR10H become members of the Undergraduate Research Consortium in Functional Genomics (URCFG) and perform original research of interest to the greater scientific community. The course focuses on topics including (but not limited to) molecular and developmental biology, Drosophila husbandry and genetics, fine tissue dissection, fluorescence microscopy, and data analysis. Scientific writing and thinking skills are expanded as students incorporate their own novel data into a grant proposal and research manuscript. BR10H has published four papers in peer reviewed journals with 135, 264, 276, and 339 undergraduate authors, respectively.
Please Note: BR 10H will not be offered for the Winter 2020 quarter. We will resume offering the course in Spring 2020.
Note – To enroll in BR 10H, you must first complete a brief application, located here.
Honors Collegium 70A – Genetic Engineering in Medicine, Agriculture and Law. This course is designed to introduce non-life science majors to basic principles of molecular biology, their applications to areas such as genetic engineering, diagnostic screening and forensics, and the ethical and legal questions that arise from this work. Sponsored by Dr. Robert Goldberg’s HHMI Professors Award, HNRS 70A has been highly successful and consistently receives outstanding evaluations from its students.