Update 2024: 53 Pass. Finally, got through this one following an unexpected setback this time last year. The revised assessment format with two reflection reports and group exam helped. Still need to consolidate exam erformance for third year Immunology or Pharmacology. Overall, huge relief. Arguably the most challenging subject taken by far, BIOM20001 provides a comprehensive curriculum involving integration across biochemistry, genetics, cellular biology & intracellular signalling pathways culminating with an overview of microbiology, immunology & pathology. Lectures were of an exceptional standard. However, make on mistake. As other reviews mentioned, BIOM20001 is a 25 point subject necessitating twice the workload of a standard 12.5 point subject. Studying this subject alongside two chemistry subjects (CHEM20018 & CHEM20026) was difficult & exhausting. Starting off with biochemistry & genetics provided a useful link for both chemistry subjects. However, fatigue & motivation began to drop whilst navigating cellular biology. Just the teaching method was atrocious. Immunology was the main highlight. I really enjoyed this section the most. Odilia is amazing. Microbiology was okay. Pathology was decent but rushed. I was a student representative for this subject & the aforementioned chemistry subjects. (Just a heads up for future cohorts taking this subject- there has been a restructuring of the assessment with reduced emphasis on the final examination from 2024).

This subject was quite interesting and rewarding, but also very content-heavy. We covered several topics in great detail, including biochemistry, genetics, cell biology, microbiology and immunology, and pathology. Each topic built on knowledge from previous topics, and I found that there was a lot of crossover between topics. I especially enjoyed the microbiology practicals as they allowed us to gain some hands-on experience working with bacteria, and gave us a chance to apply our knowledge to a hospital outbreak scenario. The lecturers were quite decent, especially Terry who was the biochemistry lecturer. However, as expected for a double-credit subject there was a lot of content to get through each week. We had MST's for each topic, and in some cases these were spaced less than two weeks apart. However, I felt that the MST's motivated me to keep up with the content throughout the semester. They weren't too difficult to score well in either, and helped take off a lot of pressure from the final exam. The reflective essays were quite straightforward, and these involved setting a goal using the SMART framework. However, the staff kept pushing back the due date for the second reflective essay, up until the second week of the exam period, as they had not finished marking the first reflective essay. The group exam wasn't too bad, and involved integrating knowledge across all five topics. The individual exam was not too time-pressured, and if you put in the effort throughout the semester and work hard, then you will do well.

Pretty solid subject. A H1 is achievable if you keep up to date with the content (the MSTs for each topic kind of force you to be relatively on top of things regardless). If I'm not mistaken this was the first cohort where they tried out the group exam format -- and it's exactly what it sounds like, an exam that you take with a group that is assigned to you from the start of the semester. I was lucky enough to get a good group, though if you want to take this subject then you have to confront the fact that you might not be so lucky. The content is quite interesting and they all converge on some integral topics - namely, cancer was an important topic for our cohort. Some bad things: the delivery of the content isn't the same throughout all the topics, with one topic standing out (cough cough cell biology). They might change it up next year but this year they gave us some eLearning thing that was quite fiddly and it was hard to pinpoint which content we had to know vs the supplementary fluff they always give you. Additionally, there was quite poor communication between the coordinators and the cohort when it came to our second assignment, in which they kept pushing back the due date since they weren't finished marking the first assignment (which we submitted all the way in week 5). In the end, they gave us a very vague "due to some unforeseen circumstances" excuse, which we took in our desperation, but some earlier transparency would have been good. Terry is such a good lecturer that he might singlehandedly convince you to major in biochemistry. Might.

I personally just did not enjoy the topics and there was very poor communication between the staff.

Was definitely challenging but I thought it was organised very well with each topic building on the last and the subject made more and more sense as we went through the topics. Would recommend keeping up to date with the lectures for this subject throughout semester as it is a double point subject and the volume of content can get quite unbearable if you leave all of it to the end. Overall, challenging but learnt a lot, and well taught and organised.

Oof it's a tough subject but one that you can work through. Bear in mind, it's a double-credit subject so you'd expect the workload to be high. I got a high H1, which required me to balance understanding content thoroughly (if you can teach it to someone else, you're about there) and not falling behind. You'll find which topics interest you and also what learning styles because you're exposed to so much. Fight through it and appreciate it while it lasts!

It is a very content dense subject but lot more integrative (unlike BIOL10002/3, which were a bit all over the place)! You could really summarise the whole of MCB to cancer (mechanisms) and immunology (with elements of pathology). The subject was very well coordinated (shoutout to Odilia and Jiangli) and the MSTs atleast for this year were very doable! Part A of the exam (SAQ) was quite difficult but it was balanced by an easier Part B (MCQ + Matching answers). Having said that I cannot stress you enough of the integration between the topics. This yr's exam had a whole question worth 60 marks dedicated to COVID-19 covering aspects of Biochemistry (structure of a potential anti-viral for COVID-19), Genetics, Cell Biology (Trump's infamous Hydroxychloroquine) and Immunology (finding a vaccine). Therefore, if you are willing to put in the effort to create concept maps that integrate various topics, then a H1 is very achievable with some help from scaling! What can I say, MCB is my favourite subject to date (period)!!!

A content-heavy subject, but highly interesting! This subject covers a wide variety of topics (Biochemistry, Genetics, Cell Biology, Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology) and requires a lot of effort to keep up with content without falling behind, but a H1 is definitely doable if you're willing to put in the effort!

My FAVOURITE SUBJECT! Is it a challenging subject? YES! Is it extremely interesting? YES! Is it difficult to get a H1? Now, that's completely up to you! I received a H1 for this subject and in my opinion, it wasn't too difficult. My biggest advice would be to summarise lecture content right after so the information is fresh in your mind. I used mind maps, cue cards and most importantly I studied with friends. I found that the content was well-integrated and I never got bored with what we were learning. Definitely worth it in the end if you put in the hard work throughout semester.

he course is arranged for students to develop an understanding of the molecular aspects of biology at the biomolecular, sub-cellular and cellular level, leading to systems biology at an organismal level. This includes an understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of infections and host cell responses. The subject is multi-disciplinary being co-taught by staff in the departments of Anatomy & Neuroscience, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Genetics, Microbiology & immunology, and Pathology.