Biology Department information
The development of recombinant DNA technology, sometimes referred to as genetic engineering, has radically altered the biomedical sciences. Recombinant DNA techniques have triggered the exponential growth of a new biological field- molecular genetics, or, more generally, molecular biology, which only two decades ago was in its infancy. Fundamental biological problems, untenable only a decade or two ago, are now being addressed using new molecular genetic methods. Recombinant DNA techniques are also revolutionizing disease diagnosis, as genetic bases for cancer, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s and other diseases are being discovered and making news almost daily. Applications of recombinant DNA methods, collectively called biotechnology, are yielding new approaches to disease treatment, drug development, forensics, and even the study of evolution.
The Program in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology provides students with a rigorous curriculum designed to prepare them for a career in this exciting and expanding area of biology. Students in this program are exposed to state of the art molecular techniques, and students completing this program will be highly qualified to seek employment at academic, industrial, or government laboratories engaged in molecular biology endeavors, or pursue graduate studies in molecular biology and related fields such as microbiology, immunology, or cell biology.
