The Department of Life Sciences was founded in 1982 previously known as the Department of Biology. Our research programs cover a breadth of biological systems, including Biomedicine, Genomics, Biotechnology, and Ecology. A unifying theme of our research is to understand the molecular mechanism of cells and organisms, and the evolution between species. This basic knowledge can lead us to understand the interactions between genomics and environment and mechanisms of human diseases.Our mission is to achieve excellence in teaching, research, and service to the country, and to provide the best programs in undergraduate and graduate education. Our Department is comprised of 19 faculty members, 60 graduate students, 200 undergraduate students, and 4 departmental staff members. Our faculty members direct cutting edge research programs in three fields, Biomedicine, Genomics & Biotechnology, and Ecology. This research breadth allows us to tackle important questions in biology.