Genetics

Genetics is the science of inheritance and variation, exploring how genetic information is stored, transmitted, expressed and regulated in living organisms. Since the discovery of the structure of DNA, the field has expanded from Mendelian patterns of heredity to molecular mechanisms of gene expression, genomic editing technologies, population genetics and the genetic basis of complex diseases. Genetics underpins modern medicine, agriculture, evolutionary biology and biotechnology, and it continues to generate some of the most significant scientific developments of the present era.

At the University of Leeds you will study this three-year full-time programme, which includes a sandwich year and a year abroad alongside embedded work placement opportunities. The sandwich year gives you sustained professional experience in a genetics, biotechnology or pharmaceutical research setting, while the year abroad allows you to engage with genetics education and research at a partner institution in another country. The combination of these two structural features gives you an unusually strong professional and international formation alongside the academic content.

You will gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature, transmission and expression of genetic information in living organisms, covering molecular biology, genomics, developmental genetics, population genetics, epigenetics and the applications of genetic knowledge in medicine and agriculture. The typical entry tariff for this programme is around 136 UCAS points.

Genetics graduates are well placed for careers at the frontier of biological research. Roles in pharmaceutical research and development, genetic testing and diagnostics, gene therapy, plant science, agricultural biotechnology and forensic genetics are all established destinations. Many graduates proceed to doctoral research in genetics, molecular biology or related disciplines.

Clinical genetics, bioinformatics and the growing field of personalised medicine also provide career paths for graduates with strong quantitative and analytical skills. Teaching and science communication are further options for those who wish to make genetics knowledge more widely accessible.