First-Year Seminars 110TP - How to Build an Octopus: An Exploration of Animal Bodies

How have animal bodies developed to meet the challenges of living on earth? We will study the common needs of animals -- such as eating, breathing, and moving -- and the design constraints these place on living bodies. We will also examine the manner in which cells come together to make biomaterials like bones, beaks, and beetle wings, and the way a squishy animal fashions a skeleton from water. Finally, we will trace these same principles of tissue design to better understand the potentials and pitfalls of lab-grown organs.

Mount Holyoke first-year students only, by placement.