Pursuing a minor in Biosciences might seem like a weird thing to do in an engineering institute. Most of the ‘hate’ we engineering students harbor for Biology stems from the way we have been taught Biology in school where the subject has become synonymous with rote learning. The courses in biosciences offered by our institute have been designed to make you think like an engineer with a strong flavour of biology taught in a way most of us haven’t experienced till now. So if you have even the slightest inclination towards life sciences or biomedical engineering, please read on to find out about the beauty of this subject and I sincerely hope that I can turn you over to the dark side.
Fields of interests:
Based on the courses offered by various departments in the institute, biology can be broadly divided into four subfields:
- Molecular Biology
- Computational and Systems Biology
- Neurobiology
- Biomedical Engineering
The way the minor curriculum is structured, you will be getting a strong base in Molecular Biology coupled with a hint of Biomedical Engineering. If your interests lie in the area of molecular biology, genetics and genetic engineering, then the minor curriculum is a great fit for you because of the variety of courses offered. If you are more into the other fields mentioned, a good mix of the minor courses coupled with some courses from other departments along with the ones offered by BSBE will be a good fit for you.
Minor Courses:
After your freshman year, you would have done BB101, which would have given you a very crude idea as to how much your interests align with the field of life sciences. In order to explore how much Biology excites you, it’s a good idea to start off with Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (BB 411) and take a look at all the other minor courses that follow.
BB411: Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
This course is structured in such a way that you will learn concepts of genetics like Mendel’s laws, codominance, complementation, etc. and interesting concepts in population dynamics like the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium till the mid-semester examinations. Post midsem you will be studying a lot of biochemistry which includes topics related to enzymes, metabolic pathways, the theoretical basis behind experimental methods of sequencing, gel assays and structures of DNA and proteins. Overall this course gives you a brief overview of what the vast field of genetics and molecular biology is about as all these concepts are touched upon quite briefly with Mendel’s laws and the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium being studied in great detail. Grading in this course is quite liberal and you are likely to score a good grade if you pay attention during the class and go through the lecture slides.
Prerequisites: BB101
Slot 5: Yes
For a better understanding, you may refer to these textbooks:
1. Principles of Genetics – Robert H. Tamarin
2. An Introduction To Genetic Analysis – Anthony J.F. Griffiths and William Gelbart
3. Lehninger’s Biochemistry
BB405: Molecular Biology
This course is about understanding how the various molecular mechanisms are related to DNA in great detail. The course will cover every single detail involved in the processes of DNA replication and its translation into proteins. You will study about the need and usage of DNA regulatory enzymes, restriction enzymes, operons, nucleosomes, splicing, and every other concept that is there to know about how your DNA is processed. You will also learn about interesting experimental techniques like Sanger sequencing and Southern blot. The course is concept heavy and attending lectures is very important since the concepts covered span multiple books. The exams (both mid-semester and end-semester) test both your analytical skills and how much you can apply the concepts you have learned. The end-semester is one of the best crafted exams you will see in your entire undergraduate career.
Prerequisite: BB101
Slot 5: Yes
BB404: Metabolism and Bioenergetics
This course is different from the above two courses in the sense that you will need to remember a fair amount of stuff along with learning a few concepts to get a good grade. The course starts by covering some basic concepts of thermodynamics along with a few concepts of ionic equilibrium with special attention given to isoelectric points of amino acids. Once the basics are covered, the course delves deep into the study of various essential metabolic pathways like the Krebs cycle, TCA cycle, etc where you learn about the steps involved, their significance and how they affect the functioning of a living organism. Finally, there is a brief overview of NMR spectroscopy and its use in studying metabolic processes. You might be in for a few surprise quizzes and reading the slides along with remembering the basic structure of metabolic pathways will be crucial to get a good grade in this course.
Prerequisite: BB101
Slot 5: Yes
BB400: Molecular Biophysics
This course is one of the most interesting courses in terms of the concepts and the number of experimental techniques you get to learn. You start off with learning about the various structural representations of proteins followed by the structure-function paradigm of proteins. A significant amount of time is spent in understanding the use of thermodynamics in the study of protein structures and experimental techniques like FRAP. One of the most important takeaways from the course is the fact that you will develop an appreciation for the way protein structure, function and context are related to each other.
Attending the lectures are extremely crucial since they will be some of the most engaging lectures you will get to experience. Exams are highly conceptual, hence paying attention in the classes and reading the slides regularly is important for doing well.
Prerequisite: BB101
Slot 5: No
BB507: Molecular Enzymology
This course is one of the best our institute has to offer if you are someone who is interested in chemical kinetics and structural chemistry. The course begins with the study of importance and the general properties of enzymes with each class of enzyme being studied in great detail in terms of their unifying concepts of structure and function. You will then study various kinetic models used for understanding the binding and functioning of enzymes in in-vitro studies. By the end of the course, you will have a fair idea of how enzymes work and the governing principles for designing enzymes. Exams will be heavy on the concept side, hence attending all lectures coupled with making regular notes and keeping upto date with suggested readings is important for both enjoying the course and doing well in the exams.
Prerequisite: BB101 and BB409 (you can request the instructor to allow you to register for the course manually by dropping the second prerequisite since it’s a basic kinetic and thermodynamics course)
Slot 5: No
BB503: Genetic Engineering
This course is all about the applications of all the concepts you learned in Molecular Biology in addition to a few new concepts along with the hottest topic in the world: CRISPR. The course covers DNA modification techniques like site directed mutagenesis, transposon mutagenesis, followed by vectors, DNA cloning, detailed study of restriction endonucleases and so on. All in all the course will make you think like an engineer while providing an essence of pure science.
Prerequisite: BB101
Slot 5: No
BB603: Physiology for Engineers
The course has two halves taught by different instructors. The first half of the sem covers topics like the endocrine system, musculo-skeletal system, acid-base balance, metabolic disorders, etc. The second half of the course covers Respiratory System, Circulatory System, Blood and the Lymphatic System. This course is heavy on the side of remembering stuff, though there are a few areas where conceptual learning is involved.
Slot 5: No
BB610: Biomedical Microsystems
This course is all about learning the various steps involved in fabricating a biomedical device on the micro scale like a lab on a chip device or a diagnostic kit. This course has a lot of potential to be a great course where you can explore the practical aspects of the course, for a small class size. Since the class size is in excess of 200 students, owing to the fact that it is synonymous with an easy grade, the real gist of the course gets lost in the crowd.
Slot 5: Yes
Why you should pursue the minor!
There are primarily two reasons as to why you should pursue this minor:
- If you are a person who loves to explore new topics, this minor is a great fit for you, because you will be having lots of new stuff to learn, some of which will potentially complement your major.
- If you are interested in pursuing a career in molecular biology, biomolecular engineering, etc., pursuing this minor will be beneficial.
Why you shouldn’t pursue the minor!
There are a few reasons as to why you should think twice before pursuing the minor:
- If your interests are more aligned towards biomedical engineering, neuroscience or systems and computational biology, it would perhaps be a better idea to mix up a couple of the minor courses with relevant courses offered in the BSBE department and the Electrical Engineering department in the form of electives and ALCs.
- If you are pursuing the minor to improve your job prospects post graduation, then a Biology minor wouldn’t be of much help as compared to a Computer Science, Management or an IEOR minor.
Feel free to reach out to Soham at sdibyachintan1@gmail.com
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