• Microbiologists are concerned with forms of life that are very small, those that are microscopic or sub-microscopic in size. They study bacteria, archaea, yeasts, molds, viruses, and protozoa, looking at how they may be identified, how they cause disease, and how they are beneficial to the ecosystem.
  • Microbiology is a field whose challenges range from understanding virulence mechanisms of infectious bacteria and the threat of increasing antibiotic resistance to elucidating bacterial toxin structures to facilitate the development of new treatments; from utilizing microorganisms to clean up environmentally devastating oil spills and toxic waste to developing microorganisms as alternative biofuels; from applying biotechnology to produce human insulin and other therapeutic proteins in yeast to constructing the next generation of vaccine-producing cells; from exploiting virus replication mechanisms to advance cancer biology research to developing computational tools to support the genomics 'revolution'.
  • The program in microbiology includes courses in general microbiology, pathogenic (disease-related) microbiology, immunology (dealing with immunity to disease), microbial ecology (environmentally related microbiology), virology, genetics (including recombinant DNA technology), microbial physiology, bioinformatics, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Laboratories are an essential part of the science courses.
  • The Bachelor of Science degree provides more in-depth study, particularly in preparation for the pursuit of a graduate degree in microbiology and related fields, and careers in research. As part of this preparation, students are required to conduct independent research leading to the public presentation of their results. The program consists of a larger set of required core courses and of focus groups from which students chose elective courses to provide depth—lecture/lab courses, research courses, and additional disciplinary courses. Although more science courses are required, several of the College of Arts and Science requirements are waived.