Research in Molecular and Cellular Biology is loosely organized around the themes of endogenous genetic programs and responses to environmental stress. The research in our laboratories explores one or more areas within these themes, with the goal of learning how living systems change over time during genetically-programmed developmental or physiological processes, and how they respond to environmental signals or stresses. Our research areas encompass multiple levels of organization: molecules and molecular interactions, cell structure and substructure, tissues and organs, and whole organismal physiological processes. Our studies employ bacteria, fungi, protists, vertebrate and invertebrate animals, and plants.
The Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology believes that model systems research is the proper focus of biological research in a liberal arts college. Model systems are animals and plants that are particularly well suited for answering basic biological questions, as contrasted with applied systems research of the type that is common at medical and agriculture schools. We seek to understand basic biological processes at fundamental levels; this fundamental knowledge will be the basis for a better understanding of human health and other applied fields. Undergraduates and graduate students trained in our curricula have a broad and solid base of biological knowledge from which to embark on future careers.
At the undergraduate level MCB is responsible for over half of undergraduate instruction offered by the Department, including most of the courses of interest to undergraduates in preprofessional tracks, including Genetics, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Human Physiology, Microbiology, and others. If you are an undergraduate in a pre-professional track (pre-med, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, etc), and wondering whether you should be a Biology or Microbiology major, please see the page Majoring in the Biological Sciences.
The graduate program in Molecular and Cellular Biology emphasizes integrative approaches to questions of organismal function at the molecular, cellular and/or tissue levels, and how these mechanisms have evolved over time. For more information on research opportunities, please browse the research interests of the faculty in Molecular and Cellular Biology, and for additional information and instructions on applying to graduate school see applying to graduate school.
