This domain emphasis will prepare students for work or graduate school in bioinformatics and computational biology with a focus on molecular biology and genomics. Students with this emphasis will be able to understand how computational and statistical methods are used to elucidate the mechanisms of cellular processing of genetic data and will prepare them for computational analyses of DNA sequencing data and other molecular biological data.

From the lists shown below, students will select one course from the lower-division, and two courses from the upper-division. The lower division course is a required element of the Domain Emphasis.

Courses in this domain emphasis are often restricted by major to enroll, and several have extensive prerequisites. It may be difficult to complete this emphasis given these restrictions. Students are advised to make appropriate alternate plans.

 Prerequisites are shown within square brackets.

Lower Division (select one)

  • BIOLOGY 1A. General Biology Lecture (3 units) [Prerequisite: CHEM 1A; Co-requisite: BIOLOGY 1AL]
  • BIOLOGY 1B. General Biology Lecture and Laboratory (4 units)
  • MATH 53. Multivariable Calculus (4 units)

Upper Division (select two)

  • BIO ENG / CMPBIO 131 or C131. Introduction to Computational Molecular and Cell Biology (4 units) [Prerequisites: BIO ENG 11 or BIOLOGY 1A, COMPSCI 61A or ENGIN 7]
  • BIO ENG 134. Genetic Design Animation (4 units) [Prerequisites: COMPSCI 61B, BIOENG 11 and BIOENG 103]
  • BIO ENG 145. Introduction to Machine Learning in Computational Biology (4 units) [Prerequisites: BIO 1A or BIOENG 11, MATH 54, COMPSCI 61B; COMPSCI 70 or MATH 55 recommended]
  • CMPBIO 156. Human Genome, Environment, and Public Health (4 units) [Prerequisite: introductory biology/genetics course]
  • CMPBIO / COMPSCI C176. Algorithms for Computational Biology (4 units) [Prerequisites: COMPSCI 70, COMPSCI 170, MATH 54 or EECS 16A]
  • INTEGBI 120. Introduction to Quantitative Methods in Biology (4 units) [Prerequisites: BIO 1A, BIO 1B, statistics, calculus]
  • INTEGBI 141. Human Genetics (4 units) [Prerequisites: BIO 1B] 
    • or INTEGBI 164. Human Genetics and Genomics [Prerequisites: BIO 1A, BIO 1B, MATH 10A/16A]
    • or MCELLBI 149. The Human Genome (4 units) [Prerequisites: MCELLBI 102, MCELLBI 104, or MCELLBI 140]
  • INTEGBI 161. Population and Evolutionary  Genetics (4 units) [Prerequisites: BIO 1A, BIO 1B, MATH 10A/16A]
  • MATH 127. Mathematical and Computational Methods in Molecular Biology (4 units) [Prerequisites: MATH 53, MATH 55]
  • MCELLBI C100A / CHEM 130. Biophysical Chemistry: Physical Principles and the Molecules of Life (4 units) [Prerequisites: CHEM 3A, BIO 1A+1AL]
  • MCELLBI 102. Survey of the Principles of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (4 Units) [BIO 1A]
  • MCELLBI 104. Genetics, Genomics and Cell Biology (4 units) [Prerequisites: MCELLBI 102]
  • MCELLBI 132. Biology of Human Cancer (4 units) [Prerequisites: MCELLBI 102]
  • MCELLBI 137L. Physical Biology of the Cell (3 units)
  • MCELLBI 140. General Genetics (4 units) [Prerequisites: BIO 1A+1AL]
  • MCELLBI 143. Evolution of Genomes, Cells and Development (3 units) [Prerequisites: MCELLBI 102]
  • MCELLBI/PLANTBI C148. Microbial Genetics and Genomics (4 units) [Prerequisites: MCELLBI 102]
  • MCELLBI 153. Molecular Therapeutics (4 units) [Prerequisites: BIO 1A, MCELLBI 102, C100A or CHEM 135]
  • PLANTBI 160. Plant Molecular Genetics.  (4 units) [Prerequisites: BIO 1A, BIO 1B]

These courses are no longer expected to be offered, but are still accepted for the domain emphasis for those students who have previously completed them:

  • BIO ENG 144. Introduction to Protein Informatics (4 units)
  • MCELLBI 130. Cell and Systems Biology (4 units) [Prerequisites: MCELLBI 102, 104]
  • MCELLBI 146. Topics in Computational Biology and Genomics (4 units) [Prerequisites: COMPSCI 61A or equivalent]

Unit values and prerequisites are subject to change. Please refer to guide.berkeley.edu for the most up-to-date course information.