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Program Requirements
The Major requires 58 or 59 credits depending on a student's choice of complementary courses.
Students in the Major Program are permitted to take a maximum of 9 credits of research courses.
U1 Required Courses (18 credits)
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BIOL 200 Molecular Biology (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : The physical and chemical properties of the cell and its components in relation to their structure and function. Topics include: protein structure, enzymes and enzyme kinetics; nucleic acid replication, transcription and translation; the genetic code, mutation, recombination, and regulation of gene expression.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Roy, Richard D W; Brown, Gregory G; Fagotto, Francesco; Zetka, Monique (Fall)
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture, 1 hour optional tutorial
- Prerequisite: BIOL 112 or equivalent
- Corequisite: CHEM 212 or equivalent
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BIOL 201 Cell Biology and Metabolism (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : This course introduces the student to our modern understanding of cells and how they work. Major topics to be covered include: photosynthesis, energy metabolism and metabolic integration; plasma membrane including secretion, endocytosis and contact mediated interactions between cells; cytoskeleton including cell and organelle movement; the nervous system; hormone signaling; the cell cycle.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: Levine, Robert; Hewitt, Kathryn; Brouhard, Gary (Winter)
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture, 1 hour optional tutorial
- Prerequisite: BIOL 200.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking ANAT 212 or BIOC 212
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BIOL 202 Basic Genetics (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Introduction to basic principles, and to modern advances, problems and applications in the genetics of higher and lower organisms with examples representative of the biological sciences.
Terms: Winter 2011, Summer 2011
Instructors: Schoen, Daniel J; Chevrette, Mario; Western, Tamara (Winter) Dankort, David; Western, Tamara (Summer)
- Winter, Summer
- 3 hours lecture, 1 hour optional tutorial
- Prerequisite: BIOL 200.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking CELL 204.
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BIOL 205 Biology of Organisms (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Unified view of form and function in animals and plants. Focus on how the laws of chemistry and physics illuminate biological processes relating to the acquisition of energy and materials and their use in movement, growth, development, reproduction and responses to environmental stress.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: Dhindsa, Rajinder S (Winter)
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture, optional conference hour
- Prerequisites: BIOL 200 and PHYS 101 or 131 or equivalent
- Corequisite: ANAT 212/BIOC 212 or BIOL 201
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BIOL 206 Methods in Biology of Organisms (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Introduction to modern methods used in organismal biology, including ecological sampling, experimental methods and statistics, taxonomic and phylogenetic analysis of biodiversity, experimental behavioural ecology, microbiological methods, and library search procedures.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Gonzalez, Andrew; MacLean, Eleanor; Schoen, Daniel J (Fall)
- Fall
- 1.5 hours lecture, 4 hours laboratory and local field trip in week 2.
- Prerequisite: BIOL 111 or equivalent
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BIOL 215 Introduction to Ecology and Evolution (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : An introduction to the fundamental processes of ecology and evolution that bear on the nature and diversity of organisms and the processes that govern their assembly into ecological communities and their roles in ecosystem function.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Price, Neil; Larsson, Hans Carl; Potvin, Catherine (Fall)
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite: BIOL 111
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ENVR 202
U2 or U3 Required Course (4 credits)
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BIOL 301 Cell and Molecular Laboratory (4 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : An introduction to laboratory techniques with a focus on methods used to investigate fundamental questions in modern cell and molecular biology. Techniques including gene cloning, DNA and protein isolation and manipulation are covered, along with functional analysis of genes and proteins, basic bioinformatics, and computer-based experimental design and data analysis.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011
Instructors: Moon, Nam Sung; Harrison, Paul; Zheng, Huanquan (Fall) Moon, Nam Sung; Harrison, Paul; Zheng, Huanquan (Winter)
- Fall or Winter
- 1 hour lecture and one 6-hour laboratory
- Prerequisites: PHYS 102 or PHYS 142, BIOL 200, BIOL 201 or ANAT/BIOC 212, and BIOL 202. BIOL 206 recommended.
- Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken or are taking BIOC 300. Requires departmental approval.
- For approval email anne-marie.sdicu [at] mcgill.ca. Specify your ID number as well as the term and lab day.
Complementary Courses (37 credits)
Students complete a minimum of 36 credits or maximum of 37 credits selected as follows:
U1 Complementary Course
* Students who have already taken CHEM 212 or its equivalent will choose another appropriate complementary course, to be approved by the adviser.
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CHEM 212 Introductory Organic Chemistry 1 (4 credits) *
Overview
Chemistry : A survey of reactions of aliphatic and aromatic compounds including modern concepts of bonding, mechanisms, conformational analysis, and stereochemistry.
Terms: Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Summer 2011
Instructors: Daoust, Michel; Tsantrizos, Youla S; Moitessier, Nicolas (Fall) Daoust, Michel; Fenster, Ariel; Schirrmacher, Ralf (Winter) Daoust, Michel; Fenster, Ariel (Summer)
- Fall, Winter, Summer
- Prerequisite: CHEM 110 or equivalent.
- Corequisite: CHEM 120 or equivalent.
- Restriction: Not open to students who are taking or have taken CHEM 211 or equivalent
- Each lab section is limited enrolment
- Note: Some CEGEP programs provide equivalency for this course. For more information, please see the Department of Chemistry’s Web page ().
U2 or U3 Complementary Courses
12 credits selected from:
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BIOL 300 Molecular Biology of the Gene (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : A survey of current knowledge and approaches in the area of regulation of gene expression, post-transcriptional control of gene expression, and signal transduction.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Nilson, Laura; Zetka, Monique (Fall)
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture, optional tutorials
- Prerequisites: BIOL 200 and one of BIOL 201 or ANAT/BIOC 212.
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BIOL 303 Developmental Biology (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : A consideration of the fundamental processes and principles operating during embryogenesis. Experimental analyses at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels will be presented and discussed to provide an overall appreciation of developmental phenomena.
Terms: Winter 2011
Instructors: Nilson, Laura; Rao, Yong; Dufort, Daniel (Winter)
- Winter
- 3 hours lecture and 1 hour optional tutorial
- Prerequisites: BIOL 200, and BIOL 201 or ANAT/BIOC 212.
- Corequisites: BIOL 202. BIOL 300 strongly recommended.
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BIOL 304 Evolution (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : This course will show how the theory of evolution by natural selection provides the basis for understanding the whole of biology. The first half of the course describes the process of selection, while the second deals with evolution in the long term.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Bell, Graham (Fall)
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite: BIOL 205 and BIOL 215 or ENVR 202
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BIOL 306 Neural Basis of Behaviour (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Neural mechanisms of animal behaviour; neuroethology; cellular neurophysiology, integrative networks within nervous systems; neural control of movement; processing of sensory information.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Pollack, Gerald; Dent, Joseph Alan (Fall)
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture
- Prerequisite: ANAT 212/BIOC 212 or BIOL 201 and PHYS 102 or PHYS 142 or CEGEP Physics.
- Restriction: Not open to students who have taken PSYC 308.
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BIOL 308 Ecological Dynamics (3 credits)
Overview
Biology (Sci) : Principles of population, community, and ecosystem dynamics: population growth and regulation, species interactions, dynamics of competitive interactions and of predator/prey systems; evolutionary dynamics.
Terms: Fall 2010
Instructors: Guichard, Frederic (Fall)
- Fall
- 3 hours lecture, 1 hour computer lab/tutorial
- Prerequisite: BIOL 215 or both ENVR 200 and ENVR 202
Other Complementary Courses
21 - 24 credits selected in consultation with the student's adviser. All courses must be at the 300-level or higher; they are to include Biology courses of which at most three courses may be substituted, given the adviser's consent, with science courses offered by other departments. Unless required by the Major, prerequisites for these courses must be taken as electives.
Faculty of Science—2010-2011 (last updated Jan. 19, 2011) (disclaimer)