¶¡ÏãÔ°AV

Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | Faculty of Science
¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calendar 2013 Summer

The MBB honours program provides a broad foundation in the life sciences from a biochemical, cellular, and molecular perspective. Flexibility in upper division course selection allows students to tailor the program to their own interests as well as meet the entry requirements for medical school and other professional and graduate programs. The MBB honours program provides an intense research experience for students wanting to go on to graduate programs.

Prerequisite Grade

For a course to be accepted as fulfilling a prerequisite for any upper division MBB course, a student must have obtained a minimum grade of C.

¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Requirements

Program entry requires MBB advisor permission. Seek advice from the advisor early and declare an intention to major at any time following the first term. Declared honours students may follow the requirements in effect when they were accepted into the program, or the requirements as set out below. Acceptance into and continuance in the program requires a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average (CGPA).

Program Requirements

Students complete a total of 132 units, including lower and upper division requirements as shown below, and enough elective courses to total 132. Of these 132 units, 60 units must be in upper division courses, and 12 must be from outside the Faculty of Science, fulfilled as follows: six units from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and at least 60 upper division units.

Lower Division Requirements

Students complete a total of 55-59 units, including all of

• BISC 101 General Biology (4)
• BISC 102 General Biology (4)
• BISC 202 Genetics (3)
• CHEM 121 General Chemistry and Laboratory I (4)
• CHEM 122 General Chemistry II (2)
• CHEM 126 General Chemistry Laboratory II (2)
• CHEM 215 Introduction to Analytical Chemistry (4)
• CHEM 281 Organic Chemistry I (4)
• CHEM 286 Organic Chemistry Laboratory II (2)
• MBB 222 Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (3)
• MBB 231 Cellular Biology and Biochemistry (3)

and one of

• CHEM 282 Organic Chemistry II (2)
• CHEM 283 Organic Chemistry IIb (3)

and one of

• CMPT 102 Introduction to Scientific Computer Programming (3)
• CMPT 110 Programming in Visual Basic (3)
• CMPT 120 Introduction to Computing Science and Programming I (3)

and one of

• MATH 150 Calculus I with Review (4)
• MATH 151 Calculus I (3)
• MATH 154 Calculus I for the Biological Sciences (3)

and one of

• MATH 152 Calculus II (3)
• MATH 155 Calculus II for the Biological Sciences (3)

and one of

• PHYS 101 Physics for the Life Sciences I (3)
• PHYS 120 Mechanics and Modern Physics (3)
• PHYS 125 Mechanics and Special Relativity (3)
• PHYS 140 Studio Physics - Mechanics and Modern Physics (4)

and one of

• PHYS 102 Physics for the Life Sciences II (3)
• PHYS 121 Optics, Electricity and Magnetism (3)
• PHYS 126 Electricity, Magnetism and Light (3)
• PHYS 141 Studio Physics - Optics, Electricity and Magnetism (4)

and one of

• STAT 201 Statistics for the Life Sciences (3)
• STAT 270 Introduction to Probability and Statistics (3)

Upper Division Requirements

Students complete a total of 46-47 units, including all of

• MBB 308 Molecular Biology Laboratory (3)
• MBB 309W Biochemistry Laboratory (4)
• MBB 321 Intermediary Metabolism (3)
• MBB 322 Molecular Physiology (3)
• MBB 331 Molecular Biology (3)

and a minimum of five courses chosen from the following list. There is no upper limit on the quantity in this list that can completed.

• MBB 323-3 Introduction to Physical Biochemistry
• MBB 402-3 Molecular Genetics
• MBB 420-3 Special Topics in Contemporary Biochemistry
• MBB 421-3 Nucleic Acids
• MBB 422-3 Biomembranes
• MBB 423-3 Protein Structure and Function
• MBB 424-3 Membrane Transport Mechanisms
• MBB 426-4 Immune System I
• MBB 427-3 Immune System II
• MBB 428-3 Molecular Mechanisms of Microbial Pathogenesis
• MBB 430-3 Mechanisms of Secretory Transport
• MBB 431-3 Cells and Disease
• MBB 432-3 Advanced Molecular Biology Techniques
• MBB 435-3 Genome Biology
• MBB 436-3 Gene Expression
• MBB 437-3 Signal Transduction
• MBB 438-3 Human Molecular Genetics
• MBB 440-3 Special Topics in Contemporary Molecular Biology
• MBB 441-3 Bioinformatics
• MBB 442-3 Proteomics
• MBB 443-3 Protein Biogenesis and Degradation
• MBB 444-3 Developmental Neurobiology
• MBB 446-3 Cell Death and Survival
  
• MBB 461-4 Comparative Genomics
• MBB 462-3 Human Genomics
  
• PHYS 433-3 Biological Physics Laboratory

and either all of (option A)

• MBB 481-5 Individual Study Semester – Research Design
• MBB 482-5 Individual Study Semester – Research Performance
• MBB 483-5 Individual Study Semester – Research Reporting

or both of (option B)

• MBB 491-5 Undergraduate Research
• MBB 492-10 Individual Study Semester*

*This may be accomplished by breaking the individual study term project into two consecutive terms.

Faculty of Science Requirements

In addition to the above requirements, students must also satisfy Faculty of Science honours program requirements as follows.

• students are required to complete additional upper division units to total a minimum of 60 upper division units (excluding EDUC 401 - 407)
• students who were enrolled at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV between fall 1991 and summer 2006 are required to complete a minimum of 12 units in subjects outside the Faculty of Science (excluding EDUC 401 - 407) including six units minimum to be completed in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements

Students admitted to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.

Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit

The University’s residency requirement stipulates that, in most cases, total transfer and course challenge credit may not exceed 60 units, and may not include more than 15 units as upper division work.

Elective Courses

In addition to the courses listed above, students should consult an academic advisor to plan the remaining required elective courses.

An elective course is any university course outside of the student's program requirements.

Research and Directed Reading Courses

For honours degree credit, students are limited to 18 undergraduate research courses and/or directed reading units. These include courses such as MBB 481, 482, 483, 490, 491, 492 and corresponding courses offered by other departments (e.g. BISC 490, 491, 492, 498, 499). If students complete more than 18 units of these courses, they may not apply the extra units toward the degree total (132 for honours). In addition, honours students may not complete more than 15 research and/or reading units in one term.

Return to molecular biology and biochemistry index page.