The Biochemistry Program is a joint program between the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Division of Biological Sciences. Biochemistry is an interdisciplinary science that integrates chemistry and biology to understand the molecular basis of life. The program offers a B.S. in Biochemistry and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry & Biophysics.
Undergraduate majors receive a solid foundation in both chemistry and biology. Biochemistry courses are usually taken in the junior year allowing majors to become involved in research with faculty and to take electives in their senior year. The major also introduces students to computer science and bioinformatics, essential tools in modern biochemistry. The B.S. in Biochemistry prepares students for advanced degrees in biochemistry or biophysics, for medical, dental or veterinary schools and for careers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. A Health Professions option is also offered within the B.S. in Biochemistry for students whose career goals are in fields related to biochemistry. This option allows more flexibility in upper division electives, permitting students to tailor the degree to their needs.
The graduate degrees in Biochemistry & Biophysics prepare students to be independent researchers in academic laboratories or in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Through coursework and independent research, graduate students in this program will become adept at the physical and structural methods necessary to probe important problems in the life sciences at the molecular level. In collaboration with the Center for Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics, the Biochemistry Program provides state-of-the-art facilities for research in biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology.
Prospective students desiring further information on these degrees should contact the Program Director by visiting the Biochemistry Program web site: http://www.cas.umt.edu/chemistry/biochemistryProgram/.
High School Preparation: In addition to the general University admission requirements, it is strongly recommended that a student take four years of mathematics, four years of science, and a foreign language.
13 credits of electives from BCH 4901 (BIOC 497); BIOB 301, 375, 410, 411, 440, 486, 4901 (BIOL 301, MICB 410, 411, BIOL 440, 490); BIOH 345, 360, 365, 370, 405, 462 (BIOL 313, 345, 312, 347, 460, MICB 309); BIOM 360, 361, 400, 410, 411, 427, 428, 435 (MICB 300, 301, 302, 404, 405, 420; BIOL 400, 401); PHAR 347, 421, 422 (BMED 347, 421, 422); CHMY 371, 3971, 402, 403, 442, 465, 466, 485, 490,1 494,1 4981 (CHEM 372, 380, 453, 455, 442, 465, 466, 485, 489, 498).
1No more that 3 credits combined of BCH 490 (BIOC 497), CHMY 490, 498 (CHEM 489, 498) or BCH 490 (BIOC 497) and no more than 3 credits of CHMY 397/494 may be counted toward the 13 credit elective requirement.
For Group I of the General Education requirements (English Writing Skills), all students must complete WRIT 101 (ENEX 101), a lower division writing course, an upper division writing course, and need to obtain a score of 3 or better on the WPA exam. The upper division requirement will be satisfied by BCH 482 (BIOC 482) (1/3 of requirement) and BCH 486 (BIOC 486) (2/3 of requirement).
Group II of the General Education requirement (Mathematics) is fulfilled by M 171 (MATH 152).
The Foreign Language/Symbolic Systems requirement (Group III of the General Education Requirement) is fulfilled by M 171 (MATH 152).
All students must complete 27 credit hours from groups IV to XI of the General Education requirement to graduate (CHMY 141N-143N (CHEM 161N- 162N) counts as the 6 credit group XI requirement). One of these courses should be an approved lower division writing course.
Credits to Graduate:
Required courses: 83
Elective courses: 13
General education:1 21
WRIT 101 (ENEX 101): 3
Total: 120
1Groups IV to X account for 21 credit hours.
For Group I of the General Education requirements (English Writing Skills), all students must complete WRIT 101 (ENEX 101), a lower division writing course, an upper division writing course, and need to obtain a score of 3 or better on the WPA exam. CHMY 302E (CHEM 334) is the formal requirement to satisfy the upper division requirement in this option. It can also be satisfied by taking the following combinations of required and elective courses: BCH 482 (BIOC 482) (1/3 of requirement), and BCH 486 (BIOC 486) (2/3 of requirement); BCH 482 (BIOC 482) or BIOB 410 ( MICB 410) (1/3 of requirement) and BIOM 410 or BIOB 411 (MICB 404 or MICB 411) (2/3 of requirement).
Group II of the General Education requirement (Mathematics) is fulfilled by M 162 (MATH 150).
The Foreign Language/Symbolic Systems requirement (Group III of the General Education Requirement) is fulfilled by M 162 (MATH 150).
All students must complete 27 credit hours from groups IV to XI of the General Education requirement to graduate (CHMY 141N-143N (CHEM 161N-162N) counts as the 6 credit group XI requirement; If CHMY 302E (CHEM 334) is taken to satisfy the upper division writing requirement it also satisfies the group VIII requirement). One of these courses should be an approved lower division writing course.
Credits to Graduate:
Required courses: 78
Elective courses: 21
General education:1 18
WRIT 101 (ENEX 101): 3
Total: 120
1Groups IV to VII, IX and X account for 18 credit hours, assuming CHMY 302E is used for group VIII.
| First Year | A | S |
|---|---|---|
| CHMY 141N (CHEM 161N) College Chemistry I | 5 | - |
| CHMY 143N (CHEM 162N) College Chemistry II | - | 5 |
| M 171 (MATH 152) Calculus I | 4 | - |
| M 172 (MATH 153) Calculus II | - | 4 |
| WRIT 101 (ENEX 101) College Writing I | 3 | - |
| BCH 110 (BIOC 110) Biochemistry of Life Lecture | - | 3 |
| BCH 111 (BIOC 111) Biochemistry of Life Laboratory | - | 1 |
| General Education | - | 3 |
| Total | 15 | 16 |
| Second Year | ||
| CHMY 221-222 (CHEM 221-222) Organic Chemistry I and Lab | 5 | - |
| CHMY 223-224 (CHEM 223-224) Organic Chemistry II and Lab | - | 5 |
| PHSX 215N/216N (PHYS 211N/213N) Fundamentals of Physics I with Calculus and Lab | 5 | - |
| PHSX 217N/218N (PHYS 212N/214N) Fundamentals of Physics II with Calculus and Lab | - | 5 |
| BIOB 260 (BIOL 221) Cellular and Molecular Biology | 4 | - |
| BIOB 272 (BIOL 223) Genetics and Evolution | - | 4 |
| BCH 294 (BIOC 210) Introductory Biochemistry Seminar | - | 1 |
| Total | 14 | 15 |
| Third Year | ||
| CHMY 311 (CHEM 341) Analytical Chem-Quant Analysis | 4 | - |
| CHMY 360 (CHEM 370) Applied Physical Chemistry (or CHMY 373 (CHEM 371) offered autumn). Students planning to attend graduate school in biochemistry or biophysics are strongly advised to take the CHMY 373-371 sequence.) | - | 3 |
| CHMY 421 (CHEM 342) Advanced Instrument Analysis | - | 4 |
| BCH 480 (BIOC 481) Advanced Biochemistry I | 3 | - |
| BCH 482 (BIOC 482) Advanced Biochemistry II | - | 3 |
| BCH 486 (BIOC 486) Biochemistry Research Laboratory | - | 3 |
| CSCI 250 (CS 177) Computer Modeling for Science Majors | 3 | - |
| General Education | 6 | - |
| Total | 16 | 13 |
| Fourth Year | ||
| CHMY 401 (CHEM 452) Advanced Inorganic Chemistry | 3 | - |
| CSCI 451 (CS 458) Computational Biology | 3 | - |
| BIOB 425 (BIOL 464) Advanced Cellular & Molecular Biology | - | 3 |
| Advanced Electives * | 6 | 7 |
| General Education | 3 | 6 |
| Total | 15 | 16 |
|
*Advanced Biochemistry Electives: BCH 490 (BIOC 497), BIOB 301 (BIOL 301), BIOB 375, BIOB 410 (MICB 410), BIOB 411 (MICB 411), BIOB 440 (BIOL 440), BIOB 486, BIOB 490 (BIOL 490), BIOH 345 (BIOL 345), BIOH 360 (BIOL 347), BIOH 365 (BIOL 312), BIOH 370 (BIOL 313), BIOH 405 (MICB 309), BIOH 462 (BIOL 460), BIOM 360 (MICB 300), BIOM 361 (MICB 301), BIOM 400 (MICB 302), BIOM 410 (MICB 404), BIOM 411 (MICB 405), BIOM 427 (BIOL 400), BIOM 428 (BIOL 401), BIOM 435 (MICB 420), PHAR 347 (BMED 347), PHAR 421 (BMED 421), PHAR 422 (BMED 422), CHMY 371 (CHEM 372), CHMY 397 (CHEM 380), CHMY 402 (CHEM 455), CHMY 403 (CHEM 453), CHMY 442 (CHEM 442), CHMY 465 (CHEM 465), CHMY 466 (CHEM 466), CHMY 485 (CHEM 485), CHMY 490 (CHEM 489), CHMY 494, CHMY 498 (CHEM 498) |
| First Year | A | S |
|---|---|---|
| CHMY 141N (CHEM 161N) College Chemistry I | 5 | - |
| CHMY 143N (CHEM 162N) College Chemistry II | - | 5 |
| M 162 (MATH 150) Applied Calculus | 4 | - |
| M 274 (MATH 158) Intro to Differential Equations | - | 3 |
| WRIT 101 (ENEX 101) College Writing I | 3 | - |
| BCH 110 (BIOC 110) Biochemistry of Life Lecture | - | 3 |
| BCH 111 (BIOC 111) Biochemistry of Life Laboratory | - | 1 |
| General Education | 3 | 3 |
| Total | 15 | 15 |
| Second Year | ||
| CHMY 221-222 (CHEM 221-222) Organic Chemistry I and Lab | 5 | - |
| CHMY 223-224 (CHEM 223-224) Organic Chemistry II and Lab | - | 5 |
| PHSX 205N/206N (PHYS 111N/113N) College Physics I and Lab | 5 | - |
| PHSX 207M/208N (PHYS 112N/114N) College Physics II and Lab | - | 5 |
| BIOB 260 (BIOL 221) Cellular and Molecular Biology | 4 | - |
| BIOB 272 (BIOL 223) Genetics and Evolution | - | 4 |
| BCH 294 (BIOC 210) Introductory Biochemistry Seminar | - | 1 |
| Total | 14 | 15 |
| Third Year | ||
| CHMY 311 (CHEM 341) Analytical Chem-Quant Analysis | 4 | - |
| CHMY 302E (CHEM 334) Chemistry Lit and Science Writing | 3 | - |
| CHMY 360 (CHEM 370) Applied Physical Chemistry (or CHMY 373 (CHEM 371) offered autumn) | - | 3 |
| CHMY 421 (CHEM 342) Advanced Instrument Analysis | - | 4 |
| BIOM 360/361 (MICB 300/301) General Microbiology + Lab | - | 5 |
| Advanced Electives* | 3 | 3 |
| General Education | 6 | - |
| Total | 16 | 15 |
| Fourth Year | ||
| CHMY 401 (CHEM 452) Advanced Inorganic Chemistry | 3 | - |
| BCH 480 (BIOC 481) Advanced Biochemistry I | 3 | - |
| BCH 482 (BIOC 482) Advanced Biochemistry II | - | 3 |
| Advanced Electives * | 3 | 9 |
| General Education | 6 | 3 |
| Total | 15 | 15 |
|
*Advanced Biochemistry Electives: BCH 486 (BIOC 486), BCH 490 (BIOC 497), BIOB 301 (BIOL 301), BIOB 375, BIOB 410 (MICB 410), BIOB 411 (MICB 411), BIOB 425 (BIOL 464), BIOB 440 (BIOL 440), BIOB 486, BIOB 490 (BIOL 490), BIOH 345 (BIOL 345), BIOH 360 (BIOL 347), BIOH 365 (BIOL 312), BIOH 370 (BIOL 313), BIOH 405 (MICB 309), BIOH 462 (BIOL 460), BIOM 400 (MICB 302), BIOM 410 (MICB 404), BIOM 411 (MICB 405), BIOM 427 (BIOL 400), BIOM 428 (BIOL 401), BIOM 435 (MICB 420), PHAR 347 (BMED 347), PHAR 421 (BMED 421), PHAR 422 (BMED 422), CHMY 371 (CHEM 372), CHMY 397 (CHEM 380), CHMY 402 (CHEM 455), CHMY 403 (CHEM 453), CHMY 442 (CHEM 442), CHMY 465 (CHEM 465), CHMY 466 (CHEM 466), CHMY 485 (CHEM 485), CHMY 490 (CHEM 489), CHMY 494, CHMY 498 (CHEM 498). |
R- before the course description indicates the course may be repeated for credit to the maximum indicated after the R. Credits beyond this maximum do not count toward a degree.
Biochemistry (BCH) - Course Descriptions
110, 111,294, 380, 480, 482, 486, 490, 491, 499, 547, 561, 562, 570, 581, 582, 584, 594, 595, 597, 599, 600, 685, 694, 699
Faculty
Bruce E. Bowler (Director), Chemistry & Biochemistry, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1986
J. Stephen Lodmell, Division of Biological Sciences, Ph.D., Brown University, 1996
J.B.A. (Sandy) Ross, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Ph.D., University of Washington, 1976
D. Scott Samuels, Division of Biological Sciences, Ph.D., University of Arizona, 1991
Stephen R. Sprang, Division of Biological Sciences, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1977
Kent D. Sugden, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Ph.D, Montana State University, 1992
Michele A. McGuirl, Division of Biological Sciences, Ph.D., Montana State University, 1999
Klara Briknarova, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University, 1999
Doug Raiford, Computer Science, Ph.D., Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, 2008
Brent Ryckman, Division of Biological Sciences, Ph.D., University of Iowa, 2003
Valeriy Smirnov, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Ph.D., University of Nebraska, 2004