Overview

The Bachelor of Science in Integrative Genetics and Genomics, offered by the Department of Biology, is designed to meet the growing need for professionals who can seamlessly combine classical molecular and cell biology knowledge with advanced data science skills. This innovative curriculum is structured around two main pillars: the computational biology skill set necessary for accessing and processing large datasets, and a rigorous molecular biology knowledge base to interpret and derive meaningful insights from the data.

Students will begin their academic journey by establishing a solid foundation in Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics. As they progress, they will have the opportunity to specialize in either Molecular Cell Biology or Genetics. A distinctive feature of this program is the requirement for all students to engage in a minimum of two semesters of undergraduate research, providing hands-on experience and practical application of their skills. Graduates of this program will be highly competitive for positions in academia, industry, or government, and will be exceptionally well-prepared for top graduate and professional programs.

Campus Location: Main

Program Code: ST-IGG-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

Angela Bricker, Faculty Advisor - junior and senior year
Biology-Life Science Building, Room 248C
215-204-8578
abricker@temple.edu

Jay Lunden, Faculty Advisor - first and second year
Biology-Life Science Building, Room 248M
215-204-8524
jlunden@temple.edu

These requirements are for students who matriculated in academic year 2024-2025. Students who matriculated prior to fall 2024 should refer to the Archives to view the requirements for their Bulletin year.

Bachelor of Science Requirements

Summary of Requirements for the Degree

1. University Requirements
   • 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 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 (79-85 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
   BIOL 1112	Introduction to Biomolecules, Cells and Genomes	4
   or BIOL 1912	Honors Introduction to Biomolecules, Cells and Genomes
   BIOL 2207	Genetics	3
   BIOL 2297	Research Techniques in Genetics (WI) 1	3
   BIOL 3113	Genome Analytics	3
   Select one of the following: 2		3-4
   BIOL 3204	Cell Structure and Function (F)
   BIOL 3324	Molecular Biology
   BIOL 4375	General Biochemistry I
   BIOL 3403	Genomic Biology	3
   Select one of the following:		3-4
   BIOL 3514	Biological Models in Python
   CIS 1051	Introduction to Problem Solving and Programming in Python
   CIS 1057	Computer Programming in C
   BIOL 4396	Advanced Study in Biology	3
   BIOL 4XXX		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)
   College of Science and Technology
   SCTC 1013	Elements of Data Science for the Physical and Life Sciences	3
   Integrative Genetics and Genomics Electives
   Select four from the following: 3, 4, 5		12-16
   BIOL 2311	Human Evolution
   BIOL 2812	Fundamentals of Medical Genetics
   BIOL 3011	Integrative Cell and Tissue Biology
   BIOL 3083	Directed Readings (With Approval from Program Director)
   BIOL 3101	Evolution
   BIOL 3112	Fundamentals of Genomic Evolutionary Medicine
   BIOL 3114	Evolutionary Ecology
   BIOL 3128	Genomics and Infectious Disease Dynamics
   BIOL 3201	Human Genetics
   BIOL 3212	Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
   BIOL 3204	Cell Structure and Function 2
   BIOL 3214	Theoretical Population Genetics
   BIOL 3225	Evolutionary Genetics and Phylogenetics
   BIOL 3232	Behavioral Genetics
   BIOL 3241	Genomics and Evolutionary Biology of Parasites and Other Dependent Species
   BIOL 3243	Parasitology
   BIOL 3244	Experimental Marine Biology
   BIOL 3245	Marine Ecology
   BIOL 3254	Animal Behavior
   BIOL 3265	Developmental Biology
   BIOL 3268	Fundamentals of Cell and Cancer Biology
   BIOL 3275	Ecology of Invasive Species
   BIOL 3301	Advanced Cell Biology
   BIOL 3307	Conservation Biology
   BIOL 3312	Biostatistics
   BIOL 3316	Tropical Marine Biology
   BIOL 3317	General Microbiology
   BIOL 3321	Plant Community Ecology
   BIOL 3323	Global Change Science: Analytics with R
   BIOL 3324	Molecular Biology 2
   BIOL 3327	Immunology
   BIOL 3328	Virology
   BIOL 3329	Developmental Genetics
   BIOL 3334	Mammalian Physiology
   BIOL 3335	Life at the Extremes - Polar Biology
   BIOL 3336	Freshwater Ecology
   BIOL 3352	Systems Neuroscience
   BIOL 3354	Neural Basis of Animal Behavior
   BIOL 3356	Organization and Development of the Nervous System
   BIOL 3358	Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
   BIOL 3361	Molecular Neuropharmacology
   BIOL 3363	Mammalian Development
   BIOL 3364	Theory and Applications of Cancer Biology
   BIOL 3365	The New Neuroimmunology
   BIOL 3368	Biology of Cancer
   BIOL 3369	Approaches to Disease Modeling, Diagnosis and Therapy
   BIOL 3371	Cell Proliferation
   BIOL 3372	The Molecular Regulation of Cell Migration and Morphogenesis During Development and Disease
   BIOL 3373	Cell Signaling
   BIOL 3379	Biotechnology
   BIOL 3380	Contemporary Biology (With Approval from Program Director)
   BIOL 3389	Field Research in Community Ecology
   BIOL 4327	Biological Impacts of Global Climate Change
   BIOL 4338	Epigenetics
   BIOL 4341	Genome Editing
   BIOL 4364	Biochemistry of Embryogenesis
   BIOL 4365	Evolutionary Developmental Biology: Evo-Devo
   BIOL 4366	Stem Cell Biology
   BIOL 4370	Advanced Special Topics in Biochemistry
   BIOL 4375	General Biochemistry I 2
   BIOL 4376	General Biochemistry II
   CHEM 3103	Analytical Chemistry
   CHEM 3105	Analytical Chemistry Lab
   CHEM 4201	Organic Structure and Mechanisms
   CHEM 4202	Organic Synthesis Methodology
   CHEM 4207	Synthesis and Identification of Organic and Medicinal Compounds
   CIS 2033	Computational Probability and Statistics
   CIS 2109	Database Management Systems
   CIS 2166	Mathematical Concepts in Computing II
   CIS 2168	Data Structures
   CIS 2229	Architecture, Operating Systems and Networking
   CIS 3203	Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
   CIS 3207	Introduction to Systems Programming and Operating Systems
   CIS 3217	Computer Architecture
   CIS 3223	Data Structures and Algorithms
   CIS 3715	Principles of Data Science
   CIS 3755	Introduction to Information Visualization
   CIS 4331	Principles of Database Systems
   CIS 4372	C++ Applications Programming
   CIS 4523	Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining
   CIS 4526	Foundations of Machine Learning
   MATH 2031	Probability and Statistics
   MATH 2101	Linear Algebra
   MATH 3031	Probability Theory I
   MATH 3032	Mathematical Statistics
   Mathematics
   MATH 1041	Calculus I	4
   or MATH 1941	Honors Calculus I
   Select one of the following:		4
   MATH 1042	Calculus II
   or 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		79-85

   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

   Only one of these courses (BIOL 3204, BIOL 3324, or BIOL 4375) need be selected to meet the requirement of the major. If additional courses from this group are taken they may be used to fulfill the requirement for upper-level electives.

   ³

   Up to one (1) Elective (3-4 s.h.) may be replaced by a Cognate elective selected from the following: MATH 1042/MATH 1942; or MATH 2043/MATH 2943 (but only one of these math courses, and MATH 1042/MATH 1942 may only count if MATH 1044 is used to satisfy the second math course requirement in the major); or PHYS 2511 and PHYS 3511.

   ⁴

   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 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.

   ⁵

   Note that some of the upper-level elective choices in CIS require additional prerequisites that you may need to plan for. Please consult with a CST advisor if you are considering choosing electives from CIS.

   With the exception in footnote 4 above, the research and independent study courses shown below do not count as Integrative Genetics and Genomics 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.

   Course List

   Code	Title	Credit Hours
   BIOL 2082	Independent Research I	1 to 4
   BIOL 3082	Independent Research II	1 to 4
   BIOL 3181	Cooperative Research in Biochemistry	3
   BIOL 3681	Cooperative Studies	2 to 4
   BIOL 3685	Externship Studies	3
   BIOL 4291	Extradepartmental Research	1 to 4
   BIOL 4391	Accelerated Research in Biology	1 to 4
   BIOL 4483	Accelerated Research in Biochemistry	3
   BIOL 4491	Research in Biochemistry	3
   BIOL 4591	Research in Neuroscience	1 to 4

   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 Integrative Genetics and Genomics

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

¹

This program requires only one of the following courses: BIOL 3204, BIOL 3324 or BIOL 4375. Note that due to prerequisite requirements, BIOL 3324 and BIOL 4375 are shown in the next term of the suggested academic plan. If BIOL 3204 is completed it is not necessary to take BIOL 3324 or BIOL 4375 as the program only requires one of these three courses. If taken in addition to BIOL 3204 these courses can be used to fulfill one of the Integrative Genetics and Genomics electives required for this program.

²

If the student has taken the necessary prerequisite courses, some of the Integrative Genetics and Genomics or Cognate elective courses may be taken before the Spring semester of Year 3.

³

Select an Integrative Genetics and Genomics elective.