The graduate program in Cell and Molecular Biology is an interdisciplinary degree-granting program, involving over 100 faculty members from 16 departments and 5 colleges who share common interests in cell and molecular biology. The program offers training leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Cell and Molecular Biology, in addition, there is a Cancer Biology Specialization. The program includes a core of lecture courses in advanced molecular genetics and cell biology, laboratory research techniques, and ethical conduct of science. Elective courses cover specialized areas, including grant writing. The program also has a graduate seminar series in which students present their research and a weekly seminar series for presentations by CSU faculty and nationally prominent scientists each year. Core courses are typically completed during the first year. On average, the M.S. degree is completed within two years, and the Ph.D. degree within five years. Current focus areas of research include, but are not limited to Cancer Biology, Gene Expression, Genome Structure, Evolution & Repair, Infectious Disease, Metabolism & Physiology, Microbiomes, Plant Molecular Biology, Prions & Neurobiology, Stem Cells & Development, Synthetic Biology. Students are encouraged to complete coursework in computational/quantitative approaches.