A minor is offered in biochemistry. Declaration of a biochemistry minor is open to any student enrolled at CU Boulder, regardless of college or school.
Requirements
A minimum of 21 credits is required for the minor, at least 9 of which must be upper-division. The College of Arts & Sciences will allow a maximum of 9 hours of transfer credit, including 6 upper-division credit hours to count toward a minor. Students may transfer courses through organic chemistry only. All courses required for the minor must be completed with a grade of C- or better, and the overall GPA in all BCHM and CHEM courses taken must be a 2.00.
Students who have taken CHEN 1211/CHEM 1221 may substitute them for CHEM 1113/CHEM 1114.
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| General Chemistry | 5-10 | |
| Select one of the following two options: | ||
| Option 1: | ||
| General Chemistry 1 and Laboratory in General Chemistry 1 | ||
| General Chemistry 2 and Laboratory in General Chemistry 2 | ||
| Option 2: | ||
| Foundations of Chemistry and Foundations of Chemistry Lab | ||
| Organic Chemistry | 10-11 | |
| Organic Chemistry 1 | ||
or CHEM 3451 | Organic Chemistry 1 for Chemistry and Biochemistry Majors | |
| Laboratory in Organic Chemistry 1 | ||
| Organic Chemistry 2 | ||
or CHEM 3471 | Organic Chemistry 2 for Chemistry Majors | |
or BCHM 3491 | Organic Chemistry 2 for Biochemistry Majors | |
| Laboratory in Organic Chemistry 2 | ||
or CHEM 3381 | Laboratory in Advanced Organic Chemistry | |
| Biochemistry 1 | 6-8 | |
| Select one of the following: | ||
| Foundations of Biochemistry | ||
or BCHM 4611 | Principles of Biochemistry | |
| Select one of the following: | ||
| Mechanisms of Cancer | ||
| Principles of Pharmacology and Toxicology | ||
| Core Concepts in Physical Chemistry for Biochemists | ||
| Computational Genomics Lab | ||
| Metabolic Pathways and Human Disease | ||
| Biochemistry of Gene Transmission, Expression and Regulation | ||
| Therapeutic and Diagnostic Nucleic Acids | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 21-29 | |
| 1 | Must be completed at CU Boulder. |
Learning Outcomes
Upon completing the program, students will be able to:
- Master the foundational concepts of general and organic chemistry, including equilibrium, kinetics, bonding (covalent and non-covalent) and reactivity and apply these concepts to biological systems. \
- Explain how biomolecules (DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and metabolites) are synthesized and control biological processes.
- Identify the factors that determine the three-dimensional structures of biological macromolecules (DNA, RNA, proteins), and membranes (including organelles) and explain how structure relates to function.
- Describe how cells sense their environment and use this information to regulate cellular functions such as DNA replication, gene expression, signal transduction, cell division and cell death.
- Develop a conceptual, mechanistic and mathematical understanding of biomolecular interactions, including binding and catalysis.
- Explain how energy is stored, transformed and harnessed in biological systems.
- Analyze data, interpret graphs, solve quantitative problems to interpret results of scientific studies. Evaluate the rigor and reproducibility of scientific results.
- Learn and apply the rigorous scientific methods on which (bio)chemical knowledge is built: making observations, formulating hypotheses, executing experiments, evaluating rigor and reproducibility.
- Effectively communicate scientific information in oral, written and visual formats to specialized and general audiences.