Studying Biology

Explore vital questions about life on our planet

The study of Biology is nothing less than the study of our existence and the life of the natural world around us. Throughout this course you will encounter a diverse range of questions and topics to explore, including:

• The human cell: find out in detail about this most complex building block of life. View cells using electron and confocal microsopes.
   
• Human development: how do our bodies work and what are our limitations? Why can’t we grow back new organs when they are damaged by disease?
   
• Genetics: explore how gene technology has allowed many breakthroughs in disease diagnosis and forensic science. You will also have the chance to see your own genetic fingerprint!
   
• Sports science: Learn how Olympic athletes reach their tremendous performance levels and explore your own fitness using the state of the art facility at Anglia Ruskin University.
   
• Conservation and the Natural World: learn about the interdependence of life on the planet and how biologists can help to halt the damaging effects of some human behaviours. You will also visit London Zoo as you consider how we can conserve and protect species diversity as we face the extinction of 50% of all species on Earth within a generation.
   
• Ethical scientific questions: you will consider the arguments for and against genetic modification (GM), embryonic stem cell research and the human genome project.

Develop your own experimental investigations

You will have plenty of opportunity to learn and practise practical skills. You will write up the results of an experimental investigation which could be laboratory based, or a piece of work in the field. 

Visit World Famous Scientific Institutions

In Cambridge we are fortunate to have a range of world famous institutes here on our doorstep. Just a few of the places you will visit include:

• Sanger Institute: where most of the human genome was sequenced.  
• The MRC laboratory: 13 Nobel Laureates worked in these labs!
• The Babraham Institute: the home of stem cell research. 
• Cambridge University Zoology museum: only a short walk from CATS Cambridge, trace the path of evolution first hand as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth in 2009. 

Want to study Medicine?

Gain experience at leading hospitals

For those wishing to study medicine or biomedical science, work experience can be arranged during the Summer term. We currently have a number of students placed at Papworth Hopsital, famous for its Heart Transplants.

Course structure

You can study Biology on most of our programmes, which last between 3-6 terms.

For example, A level Biology is taught in 6 units. The first three units are taught in year 1 and success in these units will qualify students at AS level. The following three units are taught in year 2 and completion of all 6 units qualifies the student in the full Biology A level. 

Reading List: books involving biology

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
The Double Helix: A personal Account of the structure of DNA by James D. Watson and Steve Jones
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
What Mad Pursuit: A personal view of scientific discovery by Francis Crick
Why Don’t Penguins Feet Freeze? by Mick O’Hare
The Origin of the Species by Charles Darwin
Do Androids Dream of Electic Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Famous biologists

Aristotle (384-322)
Better known as a Philosopher, he also recorded animal and marine life

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Greatly advanced our knowledge of anatomy through detailed scientific drawings

Robert Hooke (1635-1703)
Coined the term 'cell' to describe the basic unit of human life 

Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882)
Constructed the theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)
Considered to be the father of genetics

Hans Adolf Krebs (1900-1981)
Earned a Nobel Prize for his discovery of two key metabolic cycles

Francis Crick (1916-2004) & James Watson (b.1928
Discovered the double helix structure of DNA