Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

The maturation of molecular and structural biology over the past half-century, combined with the explosion of information available from genome sequencing and proteomics, has made the molecular life sciences a critical, integrative area of study at the undergraduate level. The program in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology (BBMB) offers interdisciplinary courses and a major at this interface of the physical and biological sciences. The curriculum focuses on the structure, function, and regulation of biomolecules and on biological processes at the molecular level, and prepares students for the rapidly developing research fields of biotechnology, genomics, biomedicine, and structural biology.

Guidelines for first year BBMB students

BBMB Program Learning Goals

Students graduating from Whitman College with a BBMB major will:

• integrate concepts from biology, chemistry, and physics to understand the structure and function of biological molecules and the interactions of these molecules in cells and organisms
• demonstrate the ability to read and critique the molecular life science literature
• perform experiments to address a research question in the molecular life sciences
• effectively communicate science orally and in writing