Over the past decade, the number of students in the biochemistry and molecular biology concentration has more than doubled, a trend not seen in similar biology degrees, according to data reviewed by The Herald.
In the past 10 years, the concentration has increased from 60 students in 2015 to 142 in 2025, according to William Holmes, an associate teaching professor of biology, molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry.
Holmes — who teaches BIOL 0280: “Biochemistry” — attributed students’ preference for biochemistry to the flexibility of the concentration.
He noted that the “highly customizable” nature of the concentration is a primary draw for students interested in life sciences, allowing them to choose between various courses as prerequisites.
Jordan Chatwin ’28, who is on the pre-medical track, was initially deciding between biomedical engineering and biochemistry and molecular biology as her concentration, but ultimately preferred the latter due to its flexible range of biology electives.
Like Chatwin, many students concentrating in biochemistry and molecular biology are also on the pre-medical track, requiring them to commit to their concentration earlier to fulfill concentration requirements.
Along with providing flexibility, the concentration’s multi-faceted courses also allows students to pivot into research, biotechnology and consulting.
Julia Nguyen ’27, who is concentrating in biochemistry and molecular biology, said she is not planning to go to medical school and instead hopes to attend graduate school.
She entered Brown intending to study computational biology before realizing that she did not enjoy the computer science prerequisites. Instead, she chose to study biochemistry and molecular biology for its “hands-on” and “foundational” approach to examining the natural world.
“I didn’t get the opportunity to work hands-on in a wet lab research area until I got to Brown, and then I realized that I really enjoy working with my hands,” Nguyen said.
Other students interested in biology — as well as other concentrations like health and human biology or computational biology — noted differences in each degree’s offerings.
Hanna Wang ’26 decided to concentrate in health and human biology because of the preparation the classes provide for medical school. On the other hand, Andy Le ’26 chose to pursue computational biology, which he described as a “unique space” that directly prepares students for research while integrating well with medicine.
The increased interest in biochemistry does not appear to draw students away from studying biology — another degree offered by the University. Over the past decade, the number of biology concentrators has remained steady: 119 concentrators graduated in the class of 2016 compared to 122 for the class of 2025. During this same time period, the number of graduates in biochemistry doubled.
The number of biochemistry concentrators had a significant increase between 2020 and 2021 from 82 students to 101. Holmes noted that this was likely due to the “COVID effect,” where students became more interested in the health care field after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, this interest in health care was not limited to the pandemic.
“What I’ve seen in my years (of) teaching a heavy pre-med kind of course load is that health care is evergreen,” Holmes added. “People are never worried.”
