The?molecular biology emphasis?focuses on bioinformatics, the crossroads between lab science and analytics. Today, scientists use a variety of approaches for characterizing cells and their interactions with each other and their environments. These approaches include genomics, the sequencing of whole genomes to determining the potential of a specific gene; transcriptomics, analyzing when and why genes are turned on or off at a given time; metabolmics, determining which metabolites are present or absent in a cell; and proteomics, determining which proteins are present or absent in a cell. Faculty focus on teaching how data are collected, analyzed and interpreted.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Data scientists are in high demand. A McKinsey Global Institute report estimates that by 2018, ?the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.?