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551-0001-AAL 3 Credits MSC D-USYS , D-HEST

General Biology I

Lecturers & Examiners: Prof. Dr. Uwe Sauer, Prof. Dr. Alex Widmer, Dr. Oliver Yves Martin
Enrolment ONLY for MSc students with a decree declaring this course unit as an additional admission requirement. Any other students (e.g. incoming exchange students, doctoral students) CANNOT enrol for this course unit.
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:14:32

Abstract

Organismic biology to teach the basic principles of classical and molecular genetics, evolutionary biology and phylogeny.First in a series of two lectures given over two semesters for students of agricultural and food sciences, as well as of environmental sciences.

Objective

The understanding of basic principles of biology (inheritance, evolution and phylogeny) and an overview of the diversity of life.

Content

The first semester focuses on the organismal biology aspects of genetics, evolution and diversity of life in the Campbell chapters 12-34. Week 1-7 by Alex Widmer, Chapters 12-25 12 Cell biology Mitosis 13 Genetics Sexual life cycles and meiosis 14 Genetics Mendelian genetics 15 Genetics Linkage and chromosomes 20 Genetics Evolution of genomes 21 Evolution How evolution works 22 Evolution Phylogentic reconstructions 23 Evolution Microevolution 24 Evolution Species and speciation 25 Evolution Macroevolution Week 8-14 by Oliver Martin, Chapters 26-34 26 Diversity of Life Introdution to viruses 27 Diversity of Life Prokaryotes 28 Diversity of Life Origin & evolution of eukaryotes 29 Diversity of Life Nonvascular&seedless vascular plants 30 Diversity of Life Seed plants 31 Diversity of Life Introduction to fungi 32 Diversity of Life Overview of animal diversity 33 Diversity of Life Introduction to invertebrates 34 Diversity of Life Origin & evolution of vertebrates

Resources

Lecture Notes

No script

Literature

Campbell et al. (2021) Biology - A Global Approach. 12th Edition (Global Edition

General Information

Language
English
Levels
MSC
Frequency
Semesterly recurring

Examination

Type
session examination
Mode
written 60 minutes
Aids
a general dictionary for non native speakers.
Digital
The exam takes place on devices provided by ETH Zurich.
The General Bio I exam will be very similar to the one in Allgemeine Biologie I.

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
revision course / private study General Biology I
Self-study course. No presence required. This module is designed to be done without physical presence. The content follows precisely the Campbell chapters defined in the Course Catalogue. If you have specific questions, please contact the docent teaching the section related to your question. In parallel to this self-study module, we are teaching the same content in the actual lecture Allgemeine Biologie I and II (551-0001-00L) - in German. We recommend that you contact Profs. Widmer and Martin in the autumn semester for access to the Moodle page of the Allgemeine Biologie (for the Bio II part it is Profs. Martin, Bomblies and Sauer). You can then download the slides from their lecture. Even though they will mostly be in German, it will help you to figure out at what level of detail we teach in the various sections. The General Bio exam will be very similar to the one in Allgemeine Biologie.
No time listed 90 h semesterly

Offered In