Overview

Biochemistry can be an excellent choice for a career in industry, medical settings, academic and government positions.  The degree is also an excellent choice to prepare students for medical, pharmacy and dental school.

Biochemistry is the study of the structure, composition, and chemical reactions of substances in living systems. Biochemistry emerged as a separate discipline when scientists combined biology with organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry and began to study how living things obtain energy from food, the chemical basis of heredity, what fundamental changes occur in disease, and related issues. Biochemistry includes the sciences of molecular biology, immunochemistry, and neurochemistry, as well as bioinorganic, bioorganic, and biophysical chemistry.

Students are required to take the following courses with their corresponding laboratories: General Chemistry I (CHE-101 CHE-101 ), General Chemistry II (CHE-102), Introductory Biology I (BIO-101), Introductory Biology II (BIO-102), Organic Chemistry (CHE-219), Organic Chemistry II (CHE-220), Biochemistry (CHE-303/BIO-303), Physical Chemistry (CHE-311 or CHE-321) , Analytical Chemistry (CHE-331), Advanced Biochemistry (CHE-344/BIO-344), Medicinal Chemistry (CHE-351), Genetics (BIO-302), Molecular Cell Biology (BIO-312) and the capstone (CHE-499/BIO-499) . Other required courses include the following: Physics I (PHY-101 or PHY-111) , Physics II (PHY-102 orPHY-112), Calculus I (MAT-125 and Biostatistics  (MAT-201).

Program Requirements

Students within a department must maintain a minimum of 2.0 G.P.A. in courses taken at D’Youville in coursework required for their major.  Students who fail to earn this G.P.A will be placed on probation in the major.  Probation may continue for a maximum of three consecutive semesters or a total of four nonconsecutive semesters.  Students who exceed these limits will be dismissed from the major.  Students may appeal these decisions on academic status by submitting, in writing to the department chairperson, reasons why exceptional consideration may be justified.

Course Requirements for the Major:

In the specific area of concentration:           

In other academic areas required for the major:

Admissions

Admission into the Biochemistry BS degree program requires a minimum high school average of 85 percent.

Transfer students and those entering after D’Youville College matriculation are required to have a minimum overall and required science GPA of 2.75.