GDCB considers undergraduate education to be a cornerstone of the university and is a major participant in the development and offering of two first class interdepartmental undergraduate majors. GDCB is one of two departments (GDCB and EEOB) offering the Biology major and one of three departments (GDCB, EEOB and BBMB) that will be offering a newly developed interdepartmental Genetics major.

Biology Program

Iowa State University is great place to study biology. With over 200 faculty who are biologists, Biology students have the opportunity to learn from research and educational leaders in all fields of the biological sciences. Although the Biology major is offered by two departments, Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology (EEOB) and Genetics, Development and Cell Biology (GDCB), the Biology major allows students to combine courses from over 10 departments into a single integrated program of study. To complement the outstanding Biology academic program, students are also encouraged to become involved in biology through a number of activities: The BEST learning community where students meet others who share their interests, international field trips where students travel to study in other countries, attending summer biological field stations to take courses or do research, doing research with faculty members on campus, or joining student clubs.

Genetics Program

Iowa State University has a long history of world class research and education in genetics, making ISU one of the premier institutions for students to study genetics. As a result of the reorganization of the biological sciences at ISU, genetics will be changing from a departmental major to an interdepartmental major offered by a trio of departments, Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology and Genetics, Development and Cell Biology (GDCB). Genetics is the scientific study of heredity, the understanding of which is fundamental to all the biological sciences. As the current Genetics major does, the interdepartmental genetics program will offer a full range of instruction in all aspects of the genetics from the molecular genetics of microorganisms to population genetics.

Pre-existing Undergraduate Majors in Botany, Genetics and Zoology

The Zoology and Genetics Department and the Botany Department have dissolved and reformed as Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology (EEOB) and Genetics, Development and Cell Biology (GDCB). These two new departments will jointly offer, under the 2005-2007 catalog, an undergraduate major in Biology and, along with the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (BBMB), an interdepartmental, undergraduate major in Genetics (see above).

Although the interdepartmental Biology major and the interdepartmental Genetics major will be continue to be offered, the Zoology and Botany majors will be eliminated under the 2005-2007 catalog. However, the pre-existing undergraduate majors of Botany, Genetics and Zoology will continue to be offered as long as the present catalog (2003-2005) is in effect. So, the elimination of the Botany and Zoology majors will not affect those students who are currently enrolled in these majors, nor any that enroll in these majors before the Botany and Zoology majors disappear officially in 2005.

Students wishing to study in the general areas of botany or zoology should find a very good home within the expanding biology major, which includes substantial flexibility for study of any area of biological sciences, including botany and zoology. Those students wishing to study genetics will find a virtually seamless change from the departmental Genetics major to the new interdepartmental Genetics major.