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PrincetonUniversity |
Department of Molecular BiologyOver the last two decades a revolution has occurred in the life sciences with major advances in molecular biology and genetics and the emergence of recombinant DNA technology, genetic engineering, and whole genome sequencing and analysis as tools for the study of life. Just recently a milestone has been attained with the completion of the human genome sequence. With these new approaches it has become possible to study living organisms at a level of understanding undreamed of a few years ago. These advances have transformed our studies in numerous areas of the life sciences, including cell biology, immunology, oncology, developmental biology, evolution, neurobiology, and anthropology. The Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton is in a unique position to incorporate these approaches in its teaching and research. Students who join the department will receive training, through courses and in independent study, that will enable them to appreciate fully and participate in the modern biological revolution. Undergraduate majors in the department will focus on molecular biology, biochemistry, cellular organization, developmental biology, and molecular genetics and will participate in an exciting scientific field of inquiry and experimentation. The interaction among faculty and students provides an enriched intellectual climate. Within the department are faculty interested in areas as diverse as gene regulation and structure, cellular organization, protein biochemistry and transport, developmental biology, neurobiology, immunology, virology, oncology, structural biology, biophysics, and bioinformatics. The experimental organisms under analysis include viruses, bacteria, yeast, slime molds, zebra fish, Drosophila (fruit flies), mice, and humans. All of the research is aimed at a better understanding of life at the molecular and systems levels. During the junior year, students will take courses from the core of the molecular biology program (Cell and Developmental Biology, Genetics, Biochemistry, and the Laboratory in Molecular Biology) and begin their independent work. Opportunities to continue independent work leading to the senior thesis are available in faculty laboratories during the summer between the junior and senior year. Independent work topics have incorporated the new techniques and tools of molecular biology, genetics, biotechnology, and genomics. Topics for independent study range from the three-dimensional structure of biomolecules to the study of the roles of particular genes on brain function and animal behavior. This diversity reflects the fact that laboratories in the Department of Molecular Biology are equipped to study a variety of experimental systems, ranging from animal development to the structure of individual proteins to the molecular basis for cancer. The majority of students who join the department go on to medical school or to graduate school. Others take positions in government, with industry, or go on to other professional schools, for example, law or public health. This country's burgeoning biotechnology industry also provides many career paths for students directly after graduation. Of course, training in molecular biology teaches one to think logically and critically, allowing each student to go from molecular biology into almost any field of his or her choosing.
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