The graduate program in Cell and Molecular Biology is an interdisciplinary degree-granting program that involves 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, there also 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. The program also includes elective courses in specialized areas and in grant writing, 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 typically are 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 the following: Cancer Biology, Gene Expression, Genome Structure, Evolution, & Repair, Infectious Disease, Metabolism & Physiology, Microbiomes, Plant Molecular Biology, Prions & Neurobiology, Stem Cells & Development, and Synthetic Biology. Students are encouraged to complete coursework in computational / quantitative approaches