BIOL 063 KS -Biology of Infectious Diseases

Description: This is a non-majors (Natural Science) course on the biology of infectious diseases. The course will focus on major infectious diseases like COVID-19, flu, antibiotic resistance, and HIV. Through these ‘case studies’, we will consider the basic biology of infectious diseases, as well as how treatments are affected by the evolution of those pathogens. For example, the biology of COVID-19 will be used to consider where new diseases come from (emergence), the premise behind predicting future cases (epidemiological modeling), what different diagnostic test types tell us (e.g. serology vs. PCR and the recent CDC reporting scandal), and vaccines (how they work and herd immunity). The goal is for students to gain a deeper understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic as well why evolution, flu shots, and finishing antibiotics are important. This course will not count towards Biology-related majors.