In order to reap the maximum benefit from the curriculum that the BMB faculty have designed for your education, we require that you take our upper-division courses in a certain, logical order. One prepares you for the next and, without the proper prior preparation, your scholastic performance in each course could suffer.
MCB C100A - Biophysical Chemistry: Physical Principles and the Molecules of Life.
This is the first in the three-semester sequence of upper-division courses required for the BMB emphasis. If you were to take any other course concurrent with it, it should be an elective suitable for the BMB emphasis.
MCB 100B - Biochemistry: Pathways, Mechanisms, and Regulation. This is the second in the three-semester sequence of upper-division courses required for the BMB emphasis and requires that you have already completed MCB C100A. This course provides an in-depth survey of most of the metabolites and the degradative and biosynthetic reactions that all living organisms share in common. The only other course that you might considering taking concurrently with 100B, if not already completed, would be an elective suitable for the BMB emphasis.
MCB 110 - Molecular Biology: Macromolecular Synthesis and Cellular Function. This is the last in the three-semester sequence of upper-division courses required for the BMB emphasis. Please note that, as an MCB major in the BMB emphasis, you are not allowed to enroll in this course unless and until you have already completed BOTH MCB C100A and MCB 100B. Taken in the proper order, this sequence (MCB C100A-100B-110) will provide you with an appropriately logical and exceptionally strong foundation in all aspects of the chemical and biological bases of life processes.
MCB 140 - General Genetics. An MCB major in the BMB emphasis should not take this course unless and until you have completed MCB 110. You are allowed to take MCB 140 concurrently with MCB 110, but some consider that doing so is a heavy course load because both of these courses require a great deal of study time.
MCB 110L - General Chemistry and Molecular Biology Laboratory. You should not take this course before you have completed MCB 110, but some find it helpful to take 110L concurrently with MCB 110 because some of the material covered is quite complementary. Likewise, some find it helpful to take 110L with MCB 140 because other aspects of the material covered are quite complementary.
It is best to speak to your assigned faculty advisor in BMB about how best to fit all of the above classes into your schedule to optimize the experience for you, because your individual background and other commitments affect how to organize your schedule to your best advantage.
Please keep the above information in mind as you plan your schedule. Remember that your assigned faculty advisor in BMB is available to talk to you about how to maximize the value of your educational experience here at Berkeley. Their office hours are posted on the MCB UAO web site (http://mcb.berkeley.edu/undergrad)
Sincerely yours,
Professor Eva Nogales
Chair, BMB Undergraduate Studies Committee
Anne Aaboe
Manager, MCB Undergraduate Affairs Office