Courses in Genetics

To that end, here is a listing of departments which offer genetics-related coursework, or things which seem like sensible considerations for people who have enjoyed some of my classes and want to explore related topics further. Remember that courses with a 1XX-4XX designation are for undergraduates, while 5XX courses are for graduate students only!

• Biology: though it is a broad field with a lot of other offerings as well, the Biology department teaches many genetics-related courses, and their whole course catalog is worth looking through to see what's relevant to the part of biology that motivates your interest in genetics.
  • Of particular note is the introductory biology series: the first two of which (BIOL 180 Ecology, Evolution and Genetics and BIOL 200 Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology) must be taken to unlock Genetics coursework aimed specifically at scientists so it makes sense to take those sooner in your university career rather than later. BIOL240 Intensive Introductory Biology with Human Health Emphasis appears to be an alternate track.
  • Upper level coursework in the biology department includes many genetics-relevant options. Here are some highlights by field:
    • Lab techniques courses that include wetlab genetics and some bench-intergrated bioinformatics: BIOL 302 Laboratory Techniques in Cell and Molecular Biology (includes genetics techniques), BIOL 402 Functional Genomics.
    • Evolution: BIOL 354 Foundations in Evolution and Systematics, BIOL 449 Applied Phylogenetics (trees documenting evolution).
    • Disease: BIOL 385 Evolutionary Medicine and Public Health, BIOL 405 Cellular and Molecular Biology of Human Disease (noninfectious).
    • Ecology: BIOL 340 Genetics and Molecular Ecology.
    • Brains: BIOL 458 Behavioral Genetics, BIOL 407 Molecular Cell Biology of Neural Stem Cells, BIOL 408 Neuroethology.
    • Developmental biology: BIOL 413 Molecular Genetics of Development, BIOL 416 Molecular Genetics of Plant Development, BIOL 411 Developmental Biology, BIOL 412 Developmental Biology Lab, BIOL 415 Evolution and Development.

• Genome Sciences: genomics is genetics looked at with a larger scale, so this department is obviously going to have extremely relevant course offerings. Note that nonmajors courses without prerequisites are currently not being offered regularly.
  • The most important course to prioritize is introductory genetics for scientists: a choice of GENOME 371 or 361. These two courses cover equivalent topics and differ only in the number of credits - feel free to take the one that better fits your schedule or the one with whom the teaching style is a better fit, as either will serve as a prerequisite for unlocking upper level genetics courses.
  • Subsequently to taking the above, there are a lot of upper level genetics courses listed in the course catalog, but some have not been offered in many years, so it's important to cross reference your schedule planning with the actual time schedules. Highlights currently being offered include:
    • GENOME 465 Advanced Human Genetics
    • GENOME 373 Genomic informatics
    • GENOME 466 Cancer Genetics
    • GENOME 475 Debates in Genetics

• Public Health Genetics is focused on considering genetics in light of ethical, legal and social issues. Course offerings include:
  • the courses that I teach, which have no prerequisites and are accessible to people from any kind of academic background, currently:
    • PHG 200 Implications of Public Health Genomics for the Modern World, a survey course covering current controversial issues in the field of genetic technologies interacting with society at large
    • PHG 301 Introduction to Genetic Epidemiology, a class empowering you to read and critique the science literature on how we understand the connection between genes and diseases
    • PHG 303 Uses and Issues of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing, in which we unpack the many ways in which people can interpret their own genomic information and how that can go off the rails
  • additional courses which are crosslisted with Biostatistics and which have some prerequisites: PHG 302 Forensic Genetics and PHG 401 Computational and Applied Genetic Epidemiology.

• Biological Anthropology offers a lot of relevant coursework, like BIO A 372 Uses and Abuses of Evolutionary Views of Human Behavior, BIO A 382 Human Population Biology, but also a lot of other human evolution, disease and ELSI-relevant courses.

• Microbiology offers MICROM 411, about Bacterial Genetics.

• Bioengineering offers courses in synthetic biology (BIOEN423-425) that include genetics and lab techniques.

• Some specialized interest items exist in other departments:
  • Immunology offers IMMUN 411 Introduction to Immunology which includes some genetic content.
  • Pharmacology offers PHCOL 401-2 General Pharmacology I-II.

• Courses that cover ELSI issues related to genetics and eugenics are offered by:
  • Bioethics and the Humanities particularly BH 421 History of Eugenics
  • Disability Studies
  • Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies
  • American Sign Language like ASL 306 Deaf History.
  • Jewish Studies

Note that if you're a student interested in applying to a genetic counseling degree program, you will want to take the usual premed-level chemistry/biochem/biology series and as much genetics coursework (above) as you can get your hands on, but also you should consider taking an upper level developmental biology class, a class (other than abnormal psych) in Psychology, and get experience volunteering in crisis work and reproductive services. Please come talk to me about ideas!