Overview

Develop a deep understanding of the role of the genomes of humans and pathogens in the development, prevention, and treatment of disease with the Bachelor of Science in Genomic Medicine, offered by the Department of Biology. Scientific innovations and technologies allow us to collect genetic information at unprecedented size and scale. At the center of this advancement is the study of the genome. Information from thousands—and soon to be millions—of genomes is revealing the root causes of our genetic and infectious diseases. Due to the growing clinical emphasis on genomic medicine in medical colleges, students in the Genomic Medicine program will acquire a valuable basis for understanding and working with modern biological data. Graduates also gain a foundation in the life sciences that emphasizes the medical relevance of genomics, evolutionary biology, and informatics. This degree will prepare students for growing trends in research and medical careers focused on genomic medicine that use the power of changes in genes, proteins, and next generation technologies to make clinical diagnoses, treat patients, and understand diseases. Additionally, graduates are positioned for careers across multiple research areas, including disease, evolution, genomics, and informatics.

Students may select an optional concentration in Pre-Medicine.

Campus Location: Main

Program Code: ST-GCMD-BS

Distinction in Major

To graduate with distinction in this major, a student must satisfy the following criteria:

• achieve a minimum 3.2 cumulative GPA;
• achieve a minimum 3.2 major GPA;
• successfully complete BIOL 4391 Accelerated Research in Biology, BIOL 4291 Extradepartmental Research, or BIOL 4396 Advanced Study in Biology for a total of 6 credits over two semesters;
• write a final research paper; and/or
• present their research at a departmental research poster session.

Undergraduate Contact Information

Robert Sanders, Chair
Biology-Life Sciences Building, Room 255
215-204-8851

Erik Cordes, Vice Chair
Biology-Life Sciences Building, Room 315A
215-204-8876

Caryn Babaian, Faculty Advisor for Genomic Medicine Majors
Science Education and Research Center, Room 602
215-204-1814
caryn.babaian@temple.edu

Learn more about the Bachelor of Science in Genomic Medicine.

Bachelor of Science Requirements

Summary of Requirements for the Degree

1. University Requirements (123 total s.h.)
   • Students must complete all University requirements including those listed below.
   • All undergraduate students must complete at least two writing-intensive courses for a total of at least six credits at Temple as part of their major. The specific writing-intensive course options for this major are:

     Course List

     Code	Title	Credit Hours
     BIOL 2297	Research Techniques in Genetics	3
     BIOL 3396	Scientific Writing for Biology: The Art of Communicating	3
     BIOL 4396	Advanced Study in Biology	3

   • Students must complete the General Education (GenEd) requirements.
     • See the General Education section of the Undergraduate Bulletin for the GenEd curriculum.
     • Students who complete CST majors receive a waiver for 2 Science & Technology (GS) and 1 Quantitative Literacy (GQ) GenEd courses.
   • Students must satisfy general Temple University residency requirements.
2. College Requirements
   • A minimum of 90 total credits within the College of Science & Technology (CST), the College of Liberal Arts (CLA), and/or the College of Engineering (ENG).
     • A minimum of 45 of these credits must be upper-level (courses numbered 2000 and above).
   • Complete a one-credit first-year or transfer seminar.
     • SCTC 1001 CST First Year Seminar for every entering first-year CST student.
     • SCTC 2001 CST Transfer Seminar for every entering transfer CST student.
3. Major Requirements for Bachelor of Science (80-85 s.h.)
   At least 9 courses required for the major must be completed at Temple. At least 6 Biology courses must be completed at Temple.

   Course List

   Code	Title	Credit Hours
   Biology
   BIOL 1111	Introduction to Organismal Biology	4
   or BIOL 1911	Honors Introduction to Organismal Biology
   Select one of the following:		4
   BIOL 1112	Introduction to Biomolecules, Cells and Genomes
   or BIOL 1912	Honors Introduction to Biomolecules, Cells and Genomes
   BIOL 2112	Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
   or BIOL 2912	Honors Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
   BIOL 2207	Genetics	3
   BIOL 2297	Research Techniques in Genetics (WI) 1	3
   BIOL 2512	Genomic Foundations of Medicine (S)	3
   BIOL 3101	Evolution (F)	3
   BIOL 3112	Fundamentals of Genomic Evolutionary Medicine (S)	3
   Select one of the following:		3
   BIOL 3396	Scientific Writing for Biology: The Art of Communicating (WI)
   BIOL 4396	Advanced Study in Biology (WI)
   BIOL 3511	Pathophysiology of Genomic Medicine (F)	3
   Chemistry
   Select one of the following:		4
   CHEM 1031 & CHEM 1033	General Chemistry I and General Chemistry Laboratory I
   CHEM 1951 & CHEM 1953	Honors General Chemical Science I and Honors Chemical Science Laboratory I (F)
   Select one of the following:		4
   CHEM 1032 & CHEM 1034	General Chemistry II and General Chemistry Laboratory II
   CHEM 1952 & CHEM 1954	Honors General Chemical Science II and Honors Chemical Science Laboratory II (S)
   Select one of the following:		4
   CHEM 2201 & CHEM 2203	Organic Chemistry I and Organic Chemistry Laboratory I
   CHEM 2921 & CHEM 2923	Organic Chemistry for Honors I and Organic Honors Laboratory I (F)
   Select one of the following:		4
   CHEM 2202 & CHEM 2204	Organic Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry Laboratory II
   CHEM 2922 & CHEM 2924	Organic Chemistry for Honors II and Organic Honors Laboratory II (S)
   Computer & Information Sciences
   Select one of the following:		4
   CIS 1051	Introduction to Problem Solving and Programming in Python
   or CIS 1951	Honors Introduction to Problem Solving and Programming in Python
   CIS 1057	Computer Programming in C
   CIS 1068	Program Design and Abstraction
   or CIS 1968	Honors Program Design and Abstraction
   Genomic Medicine Electives
   Select five of the following: 2, 3		15-20
   BIOL 2233	Mammalian Anatomy (F)
   BIOL 2311	Human Evolution
   BIOL 3011	Integrative Cell and Tissue Biology
   BIOL 3111	Genomics in Medicine (F)
   BIOL 3128	Genomics and Infectious Disease Dynamics (F)
   BIOL 3201	Human Genetics (F)
   BIOL 3204	Cell Structure and Function (F)
   BIOL 3212	Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
   BIOL 3225	Evolutionary Genetics and Phylogenetics (S)
   BIOL 3232	Behavioral Genetics (F)
   BIOL 3241	Genomics and Evolutionary Biology of Parasites and Other Dependent Species (S)
   BIOL 3243	Parasitology
   BIOL 3265	Developmental Biology (F)
   BIOL 3301	Advanced Cell Biology (F)
   BIOL 3312	Biostatistics (F)
   BIOL 3317	General Microbiology (S)
   BIOL 3324	Molecular Biology
   BIOL 3325	Research Techniques in Molecular Biology (S)
   BIOL 3327	Immunology (S)
   BIOL 3328	Virology (F)
   BIOL 3329	Developmental Genetics
   BIOL 3334	Mammalian Physiology (S)
   BIOL 3352	Systems Neuroscience
   BIOL 3356	Organization and Development of the Nervous System (S)
   BIOL 3358	Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (S)
   BIOL 3361	Molecular Neuropharmacology
   BIOL 3363	Mammalian Development
   BIOL 3365	The New Neuroimmunology
   BIOL 3367	Endocrinology (F)
   BIOL 3368	Biology of Cancer (S)
   BIOL 3371	Cell Proliferation (S)
   BIOL 3373	Cell Signaling (S)
   BIOL 3374	Physical Biochemistry (S)
   BIOL 3380	Contemporary Biology
   BIOL 3403	Genomic Biology
   BIOL 3514	Biological Models in Python
   BIOL 4338	Epigenetics
   BIOL 4341	Genome Editing
   BIOL 4344	Research Techniques in Biochemistry (S)
   BIOL 4364	Biochemistry of Embryogenesis (F)
   BIOL 4365	Evolutionary Developmental Biology: Evo-Devo (S)
   BIOL 4366	Stem Cell Biology (F)
   BIOL 4375	General Biochemistry I (F)
   BIOL 4376	General Biochemistry II (F)
   CHEM 3401	Applications of Biochemistry
   CIS 2168	Data Structures
   CIS 2109	Database Management Systems
   CIS 3715	Principles of Data Science (S)
   CIS 4523	Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining
   MATH 3031	Probability Theory I
   MATH 3032	Mathematical Statistics (S)
   MATH 4033	Probability Theory II (F)
   Mathematics
   Select one of the following:		4
   MATH 1041	Calculus I
   MATH 1941	Honors Calculus I
   Select one of the following:		4
   MATH 1042	Calculus II
   MATH 1942	Honors Calculus II
   MATH 1044	Introduction to Probability and Statistics for the Life Sciences
   Physics
   Select one of the following:		4
   PHYS 1021	Introduction to General Physics I
   PHYS 1061	Elementary Classical Physics I
   or PHYS 1961	Honors Elementary Classical Physics I
   PHYS 2021	General Physics I
   or PHYS 2921	Honors General Physics I
   Select one of the following:		4
   PHYS 1022	Introduction to General Physics II
   PHYS 1062	Elementary Classical Physics II
   or PHYS 1962	Honors Elementary Classical Physics II
   PHYS 2022	General Physics II
   or PHYS 2922	Honors General Physics II
   Total Credit Hours		80-85

   Course List

   Code	Title	Credit Hours
   (F) - Fall only course
   (S) - Spring only course

   ¹

   This course has a co-requisite of BIOL 2207.

   ²

   Additional course prerequisites may be required.

   ³

   Students may fulfill one upper-level elective by completing a total of 6 credits of research. A maximum of 3 credits may come from the junior level research course BIOL 3082 and the remaining 3 credits must come from a senior level (4000+) research course. Students may also complete all 6 credits using a two semesters of the senior research course if they prefer. Consult with your departmental advisor to determine which course(s) are appropriate. Once completed, students must seek approval from a CST advisor to obtain the waiver for credit towards one upper-level elective.

With the exception noted in footnote 3 above, the research and independent study courses shown below do not count as Genomic Medicine electives, but they may count as free elective credits toward graduation. Most research courses can only be taken ONCE for a letter grade. Check individual course descriptions for details and/or exceptions.

Note: Grades of C- or higher are required unless otherwise specified in all courses for the major, including course prerequisites. The College of Science and Technology requires that students have a GPA of at least 2.00 overall and at least 2.00 in the courses applicable to their major and/or minor GPA to graduate.

A total of one semester of Biology research courses numbered lower than 4000 (to include: BIOL 2082, BIOL 3082, BIOL 3181, and BIOL 3681) may be taken for a letter grade. Any additional semesters in research courses in this category can be taken only on a CR/NC basis.

Suggested Academic Plan

Bachelor of Science in Genomic Medicine

Suggested Plan for New Students Starting in the 2024-2025 Academic Year

¹

See the Genome Medicine Electives list under Requirements for course options.

Accelerated Programs

Students may opt to pursue an accelerated +1 program, enabling them to complete both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in less time than the traditional route.

The following accelerated programs may be of interest to students in the Genomic Medicine BS:

College of Science and Technology

• Bioinformatics and Biological Data Science PSM
• Bioinnovation PSM
• Biotechnology PSM