Course Requirements
The Microbial Sciences secondary totals five courses (20 credits) in three categories. To fulfill the Microbial Sciences secondary concentration requirements, students must take:
- Two microbial science cornerstone courses
- One introductory course
- Two additional microbial-related courses at the 100-level or above.
See below for the courses that satisfy each of these requirements.
Courses
The following two courses are required.
- OEB290/MICROBI210 - Microbial Sciences: Chemistry, Ecology, and Evolution
- A LIFESCI Core Course or equivalent - this includes LIFESCI 1A/1B, LIFESCI 50A/50B, LIFESCI 100
Potential courses include, but are not limited to:
Earth and Planetary Sciences
- E-PSCI 10 – A Brief History of the Earth
- E-PSCI 53 - Marine Geochemistry
- E-PSCI 187 – Biogeochemistry
Chemistry
- CHEM 27 - The Organic Chemistry of Life
Molecular and Cellular Biology
- MCB 60 - Cellular Biology and Molecular Medicine
- MCB 68 – Cell Biology Through the Microscope
- MCB 112 – Biological Sequence Analysis
- MCB 182 – Bacterial Diversity and the Human Microbiome
Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
- OEB 10 – Foundations of Biological Diversity
- OEB 50 – Genetics and Genomics
- OEB 55 – Ecology: Populations, Communities, and Ecosystems
- OEB 119 – Deep Sea Biology
To complete the Microbial Sciences secondary requirement, you must take two additional microbe-related courses at or above the 100 level.
Please note that courses at the 200 level or above are intended primarily for graduate students but are often open to undergraduates with the necessary background/prerequisites. For courses above the 200 level, interested students should inquire in advance with the course director/faculty.
Potential courses include, but are not limited to:
Biological Sciences in Public Health
- Some courses in BPH may be relevant, but these may only be taken by undergraduates with explicit instructor permission
Chemistry
- CHEM 171 – Biological Synthesis
Earth and Planetary Sciences
- E-PSCI 10 – A Brief History of the Earth
- E-PSCI 53 - Marine Geochemistry
- E-PSCI 187 – Biogeochemistry
- E-PSCI 239 – The Climate Energy Challenge
- E-PSCI 286 – Oxygen (and oxidant) Budgets Through Earth Time
- E-PSCI 287 – Biogeochemistry
Engineering Sciences
- ENG-SCI 24 – Flavor Molecules of Food Fermentation
- ENG-SCI 195 - Using First Principles to Reverse-engineer Complex Biological Systems
- ENG-SCI 222 - Advanced Cellular Engineering
Immunology
- IMMUN 202 - Immune and Inflammatory Diseases
- IMMUN 304 - Innate Immunity and Host-Pathogen Interactions
- IMMUN 204 - Critical Readings for Immunology
Immunology and Infectious Disease
- 209 – Microbial Communities and the Human Microbiome
M.I.T. courses
- MIT 7.21 - Microbial Physiology
- MIT 7.26 - Molecular Basis of Infectious Disease
- MIT 1.89 - Environmental Microbial Biogeochemistry
- MIT 12.007 - Geobiology: History of Life on Earth
- MIT 12.177 - Astrobiology, Origins and Early Evolution of Life
Microbiology (Harvard Medical School)
- MICRO 201 - Molecular Biology of the Bacterial Cell
- MICRO 202 - Mechanisms of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Host Immune Response
- MICRO 213 - Social Issues in Biology
- MICRO 305 - Molecular Determinants of Intracellular Bacterial Pathogenesis
- MICRO 308 - Bacterial/ Host Interactions in Symbiosis and Pathogenesis
- MICRO 316 - Host Pathogen Interactions
Molecular and Cellular Biology
- MCB 111 - Mathematics in Biology
- MCB 149 – The History of Molecular Biology
- MCB 188 – Chromosomes
Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
- OEB 119 - Deep Sea Biology
- OEB 125 - Molecular Ecology and Evolution
- OEB 242- Population Genetics
- OEB 277 - Topics in Symbiosis
Systems Biology
- SYSBIO 220- Analytical foundations for quantitative biologists
Virology
- VIR 200 - Introduction to Virology
- VIR 201 – Virology