Quantitative Biology and Bioinformatics

Quantitative Biology and Bioinformatics is a recently introduced interdisciplinary minor designed for people who want to go to graduate school in biology, mathematical biology, or biostatistics. The tools acquired from this minor are becoming more and more necessary to graduate study in biological fields. However, even if you are not going to graduate school, this may be an interesting minor if you are a science student who likes math and/or statistics or a math student who likes science. Studying bioinformatics will give you a competitive edge in the field of science.

Quantitative Biology is redefining biology as we know it today, and is considered to be the new foundation of modern biological research. This minor will teach students the strengths and limitations of computational methods in studying problems pertaining to evolutionary biology, ecology, genetics, Neurobiology, physiology, and molecular and cell biology. The minor is very connected to the CLIMB program, since it focuses on the mathematical tools used in various fields of biology.

Preparatory work includes:

• Either the MAT 16, 17, or 21 series.
• A lower division biology course.
• A lower division computer programming course (ECS 10 or 30, or Engineering 6).

The upper division course plan includes:

• ECS 124 or 129: Theory and Practice of Bioinformatics, or, Computational Structural Bioinformatics
• BIS 132 or MAT 124: Mathematical Biology (MAT 124 has more math pre-reqs but is only offered once every other year, so even some math majors end up taking BIS 132)
• Choice of one: ECS 110, Applied Science Engineering 115, Stats 130A, 131A, 141A, MAT 128ABC, 135A
• Restricted Electives, choose two: Animal Genetics 120, ECS 122A, 165A, Environmental Policy and Analysis 121 or Wildlife Fish and Conservation Biology 122, Evolution and Ecology 102, 103, 104, 175, Molecular and Cellular Biology 123, 143, 182, NPB 105, 131, 165