Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

B.S. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

» Department of Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry   » College of Agricultural and Life Sciences


  • INTRODUCTION
  • WHAT IT TAKES
  • WHAT PEOPLE DO
  • GET INVOLVED
  • FACULTY
AG student removing a sample

A Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Idaho will provide you with the skills you need to conduct research that contributes to the design of new drugs and the engineering of hardier and more useful plants. 

As you study proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules, you learn about cellular functions such as DNA regulation and protein secretion.


Learn fundamental laboratory skills like isolating and cloning a gene, separating strands of DNA and fabricating a biological chemical such as insulin. Understand diseases and immune responses at the cellular level. Study how to develop and test a vaccine.

Senior year, you will draw on everything you’ve learned when you design and carry out your own research project. For example, you could experiment with designing plants that have a higher concentration of useful oils or higher resistance to drought. Receive guidance from a professor and present your findings at a poster competition.

Since 2000, our department has received $60 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and private funding agencies to study infectious diseases and conduct basic laboratory research.


We encourage our students to complete an internship the summer between their junior and senior years. They work for pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms and research laboratories.


Prepare for Success

A Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology is a good fit if you can see yourself:

  • Exploring how life works at the most basic levels.
  • Studying math and science.
  • Experimenting with cells and molecules in state-of-the-art laboratories.

To prepare, you may want to:
  • Take as many math and biology courses as possible.
  • Conduct your own experiments.
  • Pay attention to current news involving science and medicine.


Your First Year

Your first year, you will hone your communication skills with course work in writing. You will also take chemistry, calculus and cellular biology.

More advanced courses include organic chemistry, genetics, physics and genetic engineering.

See the four-year plan.


What You Can Do

With a degree in molecular biology and biotechnology, you may become one of the following:

  • Pharmaceutical scientist: Develop, test and produce new antibiotics and vaccines. Collect data on patients in clinical trials, monitor their reactions and analyze the results.
  • Medical researcher: Collect and analyze data about the mutations in cells that cause disease. Help understand disease and design treatments.
  • Agricultural biotechnologist: Modify and improve crops such as rice, soybeans, and wheat or develop biopesticides and other agricultural products that will reduce our dependence on conventional pesticides.
  • Forensic scientist: Use DNA fingerprinting and other laboratory skills to inform criminal investigations.


Rendering of a Molecule

Opportunities

Demand for our graduates is high. Work for biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies or the agricultural industry. Conduct research in university, industry or government laboratories. Salaries start as high as $50,000.

You may also choose to continue your education. Many of our graduates go on to medical, nursing, dental, pharmacy, or veterinary schools or earn advanced degrees in medical technology, biotechnology or molecular biology.


Current Research

Do research. Conduct lab procedures and collect findings for pay or credit in an on-campus laboratory. Study immune responses in virus-infected cells, manipulate bacteria to produce large quantities of a medicine, or alter the genetic makeup of rice to increase its nutritional value.


Activities

Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry (MMBB) Club: Teach lab techniques to school children, learn more about internships and meet experts in the field. Take trips to biotech companies, breweries, research centers and hot springs.
Pre-vet Club: Meet other students planning for vet school and volunteer at a horse sanctuary.
University of Idaho Environmental Club: See what you and others can do to live more sustainably.


Hands-On Experience

Intern. Get practical experience with work environments such as:

  • National Institutes of Health: Produce proteins that can be used to treat disease.
  • Pharmaceutical company: Help design a drug that targets a specific enzyme to reduce cholesterol.
  • Biotechnology company: Produce skin and bone tissue through tissue engineering.

Study abroad. Deepen your understanding of your major—and the world—in countries like these:

  • Spain: Take science classes in Spanish.
  • Switzerland: Observe a different health care system.
  • Mexico: Study how disease is managed in rural villages.

Volunteer. Give back and gain new experiences. Assist hospital medical staff as they care for patients. Treat sick pets in a veterinary clinic. Work at a clinic in a developing country.



UI faculty member Allan Caplan
Allan Caplan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research interests: Metabolic engineering of plants for phytoremediation, novel biocontrol agents in soil microbial populations.
» View Allan Caplan's profile
Andrzej Paszczynski
Andrzej Paszczynski, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research interests: the study of biodegradation (bioremediation) of organic compounds, including nitroaromatics (TNT, RDX, dinoseb), chlorinated aromatic (pentachlorophenol) and aliphatic (carbon tetrachloride) compounds, azo compounds (azo dyes), and petroleum hydrocarbons (diesel), by fungi and bacteria; the reaction mechanism of peroxidases and ligninase, the biomimetic application of non-biological catalysts in redox reactions, and the possibility of designing biodegradability into the structure of organic compounds, using azo dye isomers and plastic polymers as model compounds; studying the structures, and reaction mechanisms of the porphyrins and heme proteins and small oranometalic complexes (siderophores)
» View Andrzej Paszczynski's profile
Bruce Miller
Bruce L. Miller, Ph.D.
Professor
Research interests: Reproductive biology of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans
» View Bruce Miller's profile
Carolyn Bohach
Carolyn Hovde Bohach, Ph.D.
Professor & Director of Idaho NIH INBRE
Research interests: Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), including the infamous O157:H7 serotype
» View Carolyn Hovde Bohach's profile
Mr. Cole
Douglas G. Cole, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research interests: Intraflagellar Transport, IFT may transport axonemal precursors, IFT polypeptides, IFT raft architecture, Kinesin-II, the anterograde IFT motor
» View Douglas Cole's profile
Elizabeth Fortunato
Elizabeth Ann (Lee) Fortunato, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research interests: Understanding the mechanism behind the development of morbidity and mortality in infants congenitally infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)
» View Lee Fortunato's profile
Greg Bohach
Gregory Bohach, Ph.D.
Professor & Director/Associate Dean Idaho Ag Experiment Station
Research Interests: Pathogenesis of Infectious diseases and two general virulence mechanisms used by bacteria to cause disease in humans and animals
» View Gregory Bohach's profile
Arrizabalaga, Gustavo
Gustavo Arrizabalaga, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research interest: Use knowledge gained in the successful identification of an IIE gene and its cellular function to identify genes required for natural egress by isolating and characterizing mutants in this crucial process.
» View Gustavo Arrizabalaga's profile
Jill Johnson
Jill L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research interests: Role of molecular chaperones in the cell, especially the study of a chaperone called Hsp90 (90 kDa heat shock protein).
» View Jill Johnson's profile
Picture of a man
Kurt Gustin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research interests: Understanding, at a molecular level, the host-pathogen interactions that occur during picornavirus infection; providing insights into the mechanisms underlying such basic cellular processes as signal transduction, regulation of gene expression and nucleo-cytoplasmic trafficking
» View Kurt Gustin's profile
Patricia Hartzell
Patricia L. Hartzell, Ph.D.
Department Head & Professor
Research interests: The mechanisms by which the complex prokaryote, Myxococcus xanthus, coordinates two independent motility systems during growth and development
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Donald Crawford
Ronald L. Crawford, Ph.D.
Professor
Research interests: Microbial physiology and genetics; subsurface microbiology; microbiology of extreme and extraterrestrial environments; molecular characterization of microbial communities; biodegradation of hazardous waste and in situ biodegradation; lignocellulose biodegradation; restoration of chemically-contaminated soil and water.
» View Ronald Crawford's profile
Minnich, Scott
Scott Minnich, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research interests: Bacterial pathogenesis of Yersinia enterocolitica and Y. pestis, etiologic agents of yersiniosis and bubonic plague
» View Scott Minnich's profile
Tanya Miura
Tanya Miura, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research interests: Regulation of the Immune Response to Coronavirus Infection in the Lung
» View Tanya Miura's profile
Maki
Wusi Maki, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
Research interests: Development of electronic chip based biosensors
» View Wusi Maki's profile
Zonglie Hong
Zonglie Hong, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Research interests: Characterization of genes and proteins involved in callose synthesis during flower development and cell plate formation in plants
» View Zonglie Hong's profile