Why Iowa?

Our students aren’t passive learners. At Iowa, you’ll go inside the lab and contribute to world-renowned research working alongside faculty experts to explore the diverse realms of the biological sciences.

Undergraduate programs

iBio Graduate Program

Faculty

Why study here?

Whether you aspire to be a research scientist, professor, physician, forensic scientist, biotechnologist, public health professional, natural resource expert, science communicator, or so much more — Iowa’s Department of Biology will prepare you to take your next step through courses, experiential learning, and engagement in research.

Research

Bin Z. He portrait

Stresses strengthen disease-causing yeast

Biologists at the University of Iowa have found that C. glabrata, after being exposed to a mild stress, becomes more resistant to hydrogen peroxide, a chemical weapon employed by the human immune system to eliminate infecting microbes. The biologists further learned that this exposure-to-resistance escalation in C. glabrata does not appear in its close relative, the benign Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer’s or baker’s yeast.

Portrait of John Manak

Biologists show how brain’s immune system response worsens epilepsy

In a new study, the researchers lay out a chain of events that can cause seizures—the most common manifestation of epilepsy—to worsen. The sequence begins when oxidative stress in the body causes the brain’s immune system to react. That activation by the brain’s resident immune cells (called glia) triggers more severe seizures.

Brian Berger working in a lab

Iowa antibody bank stands ready to fight the next pandemic

On the corner of Dubuque Street and Iowa Avenue, just a block east from the Old Capitol, thousands of possible clues toward deciphering human diseases are stored in liquid nitrogen. Floating in glass tubes, the hybridomas—cell lines used to create antibodies, the foundational pieces of human and animal immunity—hold clues to how our brains work and our muscles develop. They point the way to treatments for emerging viruses that have yet to be named. They could even help combat a future pandemic.

News and announcements

Neuroscience Undergraduate Students Named INI Summer Scholars

Sunday, June 8, 2025
Two undergraduate students majoring in Neuroscience have been selected as recipients of the 2025 Iowa Neuroscience Institute Summer Scholar Award.

Biology Students Receive 2025 Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award

Saturday, June 7, 2025
Four students from the Department of Biology received the 2025 Excellence in Undergraduate Award sponsored by the UI Office of Undergraduate Research and the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Congratulations Spring 2025 Graduates!

Friday, May 30, 2025
Congratulations to the graduate students in the Department of Biology who graduated in Spring 2025!
biology students on site

$6M

Faculty in the Department of Biology received more than $6 million in grant funding in 2023.

students walking down hallway in Biology building

55 %

of undergraduate students participated in research outside of regular course assignments.

(2017 data)

student at a microscope

1,040

More than 1,000 students are enrolled as biology undergraduate majors at Iowa.

Events

Dissertation Seminar: Break-Induced Replication as a DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Pathway: Mutagenic Consequences and Mechanistic Insights promotional image

Dissertation Seminar: Break-Induced Replication as a DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Pathway: Mutagenic Consequences and Mechanistic Insights

Thursday, June 19, 2025 1:00pm
Biology Building East
Jerzy Twarowski, a PhD candidate in the Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Program, will be defending his dissertation on Thursday, June 19, at 1 p.m. CDT in Room 106, Biology Building East (BBE), and via Zoom (see attached flyer for the Zoom link). Jerzy’s mentor is Anna Malkova, former Roy J. Carver Professor of Biology at the University and Iowa and current Professor of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at UT Health San Antonio. The seminar is open to the public to attend.
Topics in Human Genetics promotional image

Topics in Human Genetics

Monday, June 23, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building
The course is open to individuals wishing to learn more about current topics in Human Genetics who meet the following criteria; individuals must have completed a course in genetics and are currently in a genetics lab, or have past genetics research experience. Genetics educators are also welcome to attend the course.The objective of the course is to provide persons familiar with genetics a broad overview of gene identification, molecular genetics, complex disease, next generation sequencing...
Topics in Human Genetics promotional image

Topics in Human Genetics

Monday, June 30, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building
The course is open to individuals wishing to learn more about current topics in Human Genetics who meet the following criteria; individuals must have completed a course in genetics and are currently in a genetics lab, or have past genetics research experience. Genetics educators are also welcome to attend the course.The objective of the course is to provide persons familiar with genetics a broad overview of gene identification, molecular genetics, complex disease, next generation sequencing...
Topics in Human Genetics promotional image

Topics in Human Genetics

Monday, July 7, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building
The course is open to individuals wishing to learn more about current topics in Human Genetics who meet the following criteria; individuals must have completed a course in genetics and are currently in a genetics lab, or have past genetics research experience. Genetics educators are also welcome to attend the course.The objective of the course is to provide persons familiar with genetics a broad overview of gene identification, molecular genetics, complex disease, next generation sequencing...
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Seminars

Dissertation Seminar: Break-Induced Replication as a DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Pathway: Mutagenic Consequences and Mechanistic Insights promotional image

Dissertation Seminar: Break-Induced Replication as a DNA Double-Strand Break Repair Pathway: Mutagenic Consequences and Mechanistic Insights

Thursday, June 19, 2025 1:00pm
Biology Building East
Jerzy Twarowski, a PhD candidate in the Integrated Biology (iBio) Graduate Program, will be defending his dissertation on Thursday, June 19, at 1 p.m. CDT in Room 106, Biology Building East (BBE), and via Zoom (see attached flyer for the Zoom link). Jerzy’s mentor is Anna Malkova, former Roy J. Carver Professor of Biology at the University and Iowa and current Professor of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at UT Health San Antonio. The seminar is open to the public to attend.
Topics in Human Genetics promotional image

Topics in Human Genetics

Monday, June 23, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building
The course is open to individuals wishing to learn more about current topics in Human Genetics who meet the following criteria; individuals must have completed a course in genetics and are currently in a genetics lab, or have past genetics research experience. Genetics educators are also welcome to attend the course.The objective of the course is to provide persons familiar with genetics a broad overview of gene identification, molecular genetics, complex disease, next generation sequencing...
Topics in Human Genetics promotional image

Topics in Human Genetics

Monday, June 30, 2025 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building
The course is open to individuals wishing to learn more about current topics in Human Genetics who meet the following criteria; individuals must have completed a course in genetics and are currently in a genetics lab, or have past genetics research experience. Genetics educators are also welcome to attend the course.The objective of the course is to provide persons familiar with genetics a broad overview of gene identification, molecular genetics, complex disease, next generation sequencing...