The Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences offers the:

and in cooperation with the Department of Biology, the:

Biotechnology applies scientific and engineering principles to living organisms to produce products and services of value to society. Modern biotechnology provides breakthrough products and technologies to:

Students with training in biotechnology enjoyexciting careersthat help feed, fuel and heal the world.

Department Chair:Dr. Samuel Nahashon, (615) 963-5431

Suggested Four-year Plan

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For the BS degree, in addition to the General Education requirements of the university, students in the Biotechnology Concentration take the following courses:

NumberCourse TitleUNIV 1000 OrientationAGSC 1200 Introduction to Plant ScienceAGSC 1410 Introduction to Animal ScienceAGSC 2010 Introduction to AgribusinessAGSC 2200 Fundamentals of Soil ScienceAGSC 2410 Introduction to Poultry ScienceAGSC 3540 Laboratory instrumentationAGSC 4500 Senior ProjectAGSC 4710-4720 SeminarAGSC xxxx Biotechnology and SocietyAGSC xxxx Principals and Methods of Biotechnology IAGSC xxxx Principals and Methods of Biotechnology IIAGSC xxxx Biotechnology in Agricultural ProductionAGSC xxxx Agricultural Bio-securityAGSC xxxx Ethics and Bio-forensics in Ag. BiotechnologyBIOL 4112 BioinformaticsBIOL 1110-1 General Biology I & LabCHEM 2010 Organic Chemistry I & LabBIOL 2110 Cell Biology + LabBIOL 2120, 2121 Genetics + LabCHEM 3410 General Biochemistry I & LabBIOL 3410 Principles General BacteriologBIOL 4110, 4111 Molecular Genetics & Lab

And two credits of electives from the following list:

NumberCourse Title AGSC 3210 Principles of Crop ScienceAGSC 3260 Plant PhysiologyAGSC 3300 Plant PathologyAGSC 3320 Propagation of Horticultural PlantsAGSC 3400 Animal and Plant GeneticsAGSC 3410 Anatomy and Physiology of Domestic AnimalsAGSC 3430 Animal Health and Disease PreventionAGSC 3530 Food MicrobiologyAGSC 4070 Agricultural Special ProblemsAGSC 4310 Plant BreedingAGSC 4410 Dairy Production and ManagementAGSC 4420 Poultry Disease Prevention and SanitationAGSC 4430 Animal NutritionAGSC 4440 Physiology of Reproduction

For additional information:ContactDr. S. Nahashon.

PhD ConcentrationThe Ph.D. concentration in Biotechnology is an interdepartmental degree program that is jointly offered by the Department of Agricultural Sciences and theDepartment of Biological Sciences.

Admission Requirements: Ph.D. Program

Administered by the Department of Biological Sciences. Applicants to the Ph.D. program must submit a completed application form, a personal statement describing interest in the program and professional goals, and three letters of recommendations from persons familiar with the applicant's academic work, especially in biology. The departmental admissions committee will base admission upon these materials and interviews with selected applicants.

Admission requires the applicant have a bachelor's degree from a fully accredited four-year college or university, a minimum score of 1370 calculated from the GPA multiplied by 200 and added to the GRE combined verbal and quantitative scores and a minimum score of 600 on the GRE subject test in biology. Students may also be admitted with subject test scores below 600, but such students must take the departmental diagnostic examination. The admissions committee will evaluate the student's performance on the examination and design a curriculum to eliminate any identified weaknesses. After passing the recommended courses with a grade of "B" or better in each, the student will begin the Ph.D. curriculum.

Programs of Study: Ph.D. Program

The degree candidate must file a program of study after competing nine (9) semester hours of graduate work, but before completing fifteen (15) hours of graduate work. The program lists the courses which will be used to satisfy degree requirements, as well as detailing how other requirements will be met. The student may later change the program of study with the written approval of the Department and the Graduate School.

Admission to Candidacy: Ph.D. Program

The student must apply for admission to candidacy after completing the 24 hour core of required courses (See Degree Requirements below), with an average of "B" (3.00) or better, passing the comprehensive examination, and gaining approval of the dissertation proposal. Students may have a "C" grade in no more than two courses (6 credit hours), neither of which can be a core course. No "D" or "F" grades are acceptable. A student who receives a grade of "C" in excess of six credits must repeat the course and achieve at least a "B".

Degree Requirements: Ph.D. Program

After gaining admission to candidacy, the student must complete an approved curriculum (24 hours minimum of electives set by the student's research advisory committee), enroll in Graduate Seminar (BIOL 7010, 7020), complete a dissertation (24 hours), and successfully defend the dissertation prior to gaining the Ph.D. degree (please refer to Biological Sciences Graduate Student Handbook for specific dissertation requirements). A student entering with a Master's degree may have applicable hours transferred toward the Ph.D. program, as determined by the Advisory Committee. The total number of hours required is 76.

For additional information:ContactDr. S. Nahashon.

Graduate Elective Courses

AGSC 5160 Animal Genetics and BreedingAGSC 5190 Plant BreedingAGSC 7010 Advancements in Agricultural BiotechnologyAGSC 7020 Economic, Regulatory and Ethical Issues in BiotechnologyAGSC 7030 Gene Expression and Regulation and Regulation in Higher PlantsAGSC 7040 Plant Tissue Culture Methods and ApplicationsAGSC 7050 Biotechnology in Animal ReproductionAGSC 7060 Advanced Soil TechnologyAGSC 7070 Molecular Genetic Ecology

The rest is here:
Biotechnology - Tennessee State University