Introduction to Biology (7.012)
MIT's foundational biology course covers biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology, with emphasis on how molecules and genes function inside cells and how cells combine into multicellular organisms. Topics include gene structure and regulation, protein synthesis, and the integration of cellular processes into larger biological systems. This version, 7.012, adds coverage of current research areas including cell biology, immunology, neurobiology, genomics, and molecular medicine. Materials come from MIT OpenCourseWare and include lecture notes, problem sets, and exams used in the original MIT course, free to access under a Creative Commons license. No certificate is offered, but the full core curriculum used by MIT biology majors is available for self-study.