BIO 320: Microbiology w/ Lab
A survey of the microbial world — its biology, its lab techniques, and its relevance to medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology.
Course Description
BIO 320 is a lecture-and-lab survey of microbiology — the study of microorganisms across medical, environmental, and industrial contexts. The course acquaints students with the major concepts of the field: microbial structure and physiology, growth and metabolism, genetics, classification, host-microbe interactions, and the techniques used to study and work with microbes.
The course's five-credit weight reflects its substantial lab component. Students don't just read about microbiology — they grow, isolate, identify, and characterize organisms in the lab. Lab fee required.
Prerequisites
Corequisites
- BIO 320L: Microbiology Lab
Learning Outcomes
Survey the Microbial World
Work through bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses, and protists with attention to structure and function.
Apply Microbiology Lab Technique
Grow, isolate, identify, and characterize microorganisms in the laboratory.
Examine Microbial Genetics
Study how microorganisms inherit, transfer, and modify genetic information.
Engage Host-Microbe Interactions
Trace how microbes interact with hosts in disease and in symbiosis.
Connect Microbiology to Real Fields
Apply microbiological understanding to medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology.
Biblical Worldview Connection
A Biblical Worldview treats the microbial world — usually invisible, often consequential — as part of the creation worth knowing. BIO 320 builds working microbiology literacy with the hands-on bench work that medical, research, and biotech careers assume.
Explore Programs With This Course
BIO 320 puts biology majors in front of the microbes that shape medicine and research. Explore the programs that include it.
