Curious about studying Genetics (Including Placement Year) - BSc (Hons)at University of Essex? We've gathered all the key details—entry requirements, modules, fees, and more. Hear from real students by checking out reviews, or take the next step by booking an open day to explore it for yourself.
Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
University of Essex
Full Time
Oct 2026
4 Year
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What is the BSc (Hons) Genetics?The BSc (Hons) Genetics is a three-year degree, extendable to four with an optional year in placement or abroad.
You’ll grasp real-world applications of genetics in medicine, biotechnology and genomics, specialising in biomedical aspects, genomes or both. ###
Why this courseThe BSc (Hons) Genetics trains you in both genetics and genomics. You’ll study molecular cell biology, evolutionary biology, the human genome, bioinformatics, and the contribution of genome science to the diagnosis and prevention of disease. Add a placement year or study abroad to put your learning into practice, expand your perspective and build confidence in professional or international settings. Previous students have placed with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Proctor & Gamble (P&G), AquaTerra, AstraZeneca, Genzyme, Reckitt Benckiser, Thermo Fisher and Isogenica – some of our 40 partner labs. You’ll graduate on the path to a geneticist or biomedical scientist career. ###
Who should apply* Future geneticists, biomedical scientists and biological scientists * Students eager to explore the latest developments and applications of genetics * Those wanting to further our modern understanding of the human body, genetics and immunology * Practical learners wanting hands-on experience
Develop your skillset and boost your CV. This module prepares you for the coursework, laboratory practicals and research projects that you will encounter during undergraduate study. Get to know referencing systems and learn how to effectively communicate scientific information. Use scientific units and simple algebra and demonstrate understanding of logarithms, exponentials, geometry and elementary calculus. Learn how to design experiments, handle data and display, interpret and analyse basic statistics. Teaching and learning will be through a mixture of lectures, classes, practicals and tutorials, with an emphasis on developing the key transferable skills needed for a career in biosciences.
The building blocks of life, plants and animals depend on the actions of individual cells. Investigate the biochemical characteristics of the small molecules and large macromolecules that allow cells to function. You examine the origins of life, cell structure and function, energy transductions, synthesis of molecules, and the eukaryotic cell cycle.
Microbes are essential for life, playing a vital role in connecting the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems. They aid in digestion, provide essential vitamins, and contribute significantly to our overall health and well-being. Marine microbes, for instance, produce approximately one-third of the oxygen we breathe. Additionally, microbes are indispensable for achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, as they clean up pollutants and synthesize valuable products like antibiotics. However, not all microbes are beneficial - some cause devastating diseases. Despite significant advances in treatment and prevention, the incidence of infectious diseases continues to rise. In this module, you will explore the vast diversity and evolution of mostly beneficial microbes, alongside the pathogenicity of harmful ones. You will investigate how different viruses and bacteria invade, interact with, and replicate within their hosts. Through two practical sessions in our state-of-the-art teaching laboratory, you will study a food poisoning outbreak and will gain hands-on experience in growing, observing, purifying, counting, and even killing microbes. These sessions will equip you with highly sought-after skills, including aseptic technique, serial dilution, and data analysis.
Explore the building blocks of life. From the proteins that make up our genetic code to the lipids that envelope our cells, explore the structure, function and biological role of the major macromolecules. You investigate the basic principles of protein structural bioinformatics and protein structural evolution, examine how ligand-binding equilibria may form the basis of diverse biological phenomena, learn the structure and properties of monosaccharides and polysaccharides and review the major types of lipids. This module develops key skills in analysis and interpretation of data, biochemical methodology and calculation of biochemical parameters.
Why do we all look different? Are some illnesses hereditary? Are animals born ready-suited to their environment? From the early theories of Mendel to modern studies in molecular genetics, you explore how scientists have answered these questions over the last 150 years. Examine how the structure and function of DNA allows genetic material to be expressed, replicated and inherited, and consider how genetic variation leads to adaptive evolution. From developing new technologies in gene cloning to the applications for modern medicine, you explore how geneticists are building on the earlier achievements in this fundamentally important field to enhance our understanding of life on earth.
Many recent advances in biological research have been born from an increased understanding of the molecules involved in systems and processes. But what do things look like beyond molecular level?
Study how molecules are formed from individual atoms, and how the properties of these constituent atoms influence molecular structure and reactivity. Examine the fundamental concepts of chemical bonding, electronegativity, acidity, basicity, hydrogen bonding and review the common organic functional groups and different types of isomerism.
You will develop your transferable skills in scientific writing (including referencing and avoiding plagiarism), teamwork and communication through oral presentations, study and research skills (including essay writing, lecture note taking, use of library and databases). Teaching and learning will be through a mixture of lectures, classes, and tutorials. The emphasis will be on small group, tutorial-style teaching and interaction with other students on this module, with assessments tailored to your degree subject area.
Develop your research, analytical, creative and critical thinking skills during this employability and skills module. Subject and employability knowledge and employability opportunities will be developed. You will gain a range of degree and employability skills, including written and verbal communication to different target audiences. Develop competency in research, analysis, enterprise, creativity within groups and individually. Part of your professional development will be creating your own employability portfolio which can be used for future PDP.
Molecular biology is central to our knowledge of how biology "works" at a molecular level. This module explores the breadth of processes involved in the regulation of gene expression and the proteins that are made. You also discover the ever-expanding range of molecular biology techniques, including PCR, cloning and mutagenesis, and how these are applied to investigate and treat disease.
The study of cells is at the centre of modern biology. Learn how cellular components determine cell structure and function, how cells communicate and how signaling pathways regulate cell fate. You also explore the regulation of the cell cycle and cell death and learn about changes that occur in cells that have become cancerous. A solid understanding of cell biology opens doors to more specialist topics, such as plant biotechnology and cancer biology.
We are in the age of genomics and scientists have devised new technologies that can generate whole genome sequences in days which would once have taken years to achieve. Learn the high-throughput techniques of next-generation sequencing used to study genomes, the proteome and the interactome. Investigate how nucleotide sequences are analysed, applying the analytical tools used by research scientists and understand how new genes are discovered and their functions revealed. You also discover how our knowledge of gene structure is being applied in the emerging field of synthetic biology to create new organisms and modify existing ones by gene editing.
If we were to compile the DNA sequence of the human genome into a book, it would be 200,000 pages long, and would take 10 years to read. The ability to effectively interpret and analyse large-scale genetic and genomic data sets is a crucial skill for next-generation biologists. The module provides a basic introduction to R, the programming language of choice for biologists industry and academia. You learn to write scripts and functions, read and write data files in different formats, use basic plot functionalities and perform basic statistical analysis.
5.5% of the population will have developed a genetic disorder by age 25. But how does genetic disease occur? From understanding the molecular basis of genetic disease, to the techniques used in NHS laboratories for diagnosis and screening for genetic disorders, you address the nature and inheritance of both single gene and complex genetic disease, and explore the effects of abnormalities in human chromosomes. Developments such as gene therapy, the 100,000 genomes project and manipulation of embryos will also be discussed.
This module aims to prepare you for carrying out an individual scientific investigation on a topic relating to your degree. Develop skills to identify a suitable question and then design an experimental approach to obtain data addressing this question. The assessment focuses on your analysis and presentation of these data in a suitable scientific paper format report, on the research, understanding and critical writing about the scientific literature relating to your project. Your oral project presentation skills and response to questions, the planning and management of your project work, your progress reflection and your employability skills will also be evaluated. This module has been designed to enable students to integrate their subject knowledge with an understanding of sustainable development, acquiring the skills and competencies essential for addressing the urgent sustainability challenges of the 21st century.
The study of human genetics is one of the fastest moving areas of scientific research today. Get to know some important emerging themes from the human genome sequence into the emerging fields of epigenetics and non-coding RNAs. You examine variations in genome sequence and structure in human populations, and consider the evidence for selection in human populations. Consider the evolution of the X chromosome and its regulation by the process of X-inactivation. You also investigate the significance of imprinting and epigenetics in human disease.
Fill the skills gap. Bioinformatics is a rapidly growing discipline based on the need to obtain biologically-meaningful information from the huge volumes of DNA-sequence, gene expression and protein structure data. Traditionally the niche area of computational biologists, there is an increasing need to for every type of biologist to be able to handle large datasets. You learn by solving problems, working through example datasets in order to understand and learn how to utilise and interpret commonly used methods.
Placement Year
Living and accommodation costs (per year, approximately)- 8,776 – 14,995
4.3
