Spring 2027

Molecules to Life and the Nature of Science

Introduction to molecular life mechanisms and evolutionary diversity, exploring current topics like gene editing, genomics, and biotechnology to evaluate scientific claims.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Mario Pennella3.7/5Richard Amasino3.7/5Danielle Widner

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Mario Pennella

Homework required about 30 minutes per week, and exams tested material presented in class.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Understand the nature of science and what science can tell us.

  • Gain an appreciation for the beauty of biology and the remarkable diversity of life on earth.

  • Discuss fundamentals of the evolutionary process and the molecular basis of how cells and organisms operate.

  • Appreciate the range of how science is presented and sometimes misrepresented in the media.

  • Equip students with the ability to inform their own decision making as they encounter scientific topics that may influence their daily life.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
BIOCHEM 104

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.73/5 from 30 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 3.0/5 raw quality · 2.0/5 difficulty · 1 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Mario Pennella

Prof. Mario Pennella taught with a clear, concise style, though one student noted he could be monotone. Homework took about 30 minutes weekly, and exams covered lecture material.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.96 GPA, 98.4% A/AB (n=728 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.92 GPA, 95.5% A/AB (n=732 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.93 GPA, 96.8% A/AB (n=698 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.64/5 from 14 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.96 GPA, 98.4% A/AB (n=728 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.92 GPA, 95.5% A/AB (n=732 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.93 GPA, 96.8% A/AB (n=698 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.92 GPA, 95.5% A/AB (n=732 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

DANIELLE WIDNER is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARIO PENNELLA is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

RICHARD AMASINO is recorded teaching in Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 002Online Only0 / 6500
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 100

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Mario Pennella

The course featured interesting material and manageable homework, with exams covering content taught during lectures.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.96 GPA, 98.4% A/AB (n=728 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.92 GPA, 95.5% A/AB (n=732 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.93 GPA, 96.8% A/AB (n=698 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Mario Pennella

Homework required about 30 minutes per week, and exams tested material presented in class.

Past student reviews · Mario Pennella

Prof. Pennella conveyed information clearly and concisely, though he could be monotone, and he readily answered questions during and after class.

Topics

  • Human genome, species history, and disease diagnosis/treatment
  • Genetic engineering of crops, food safety, and ecosystem effects
  • Gene editing in insects, mammals, and humans
  • Evaluating efficacy and safety of herbal remedies and vaccines
  • Current biotechnology trends and future developments
  • Nature of science and evaluating scientific topics

Skills

  • Discuss fundamentals of evolution and molecular cell/organism operation
  • Evaluate scientific presentations and media representations
  • Apply scientific knowledge to personal decision-making

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
BIOCHEM 104 · Spring 2027

Molecules to Life and the Nature of Science

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:200:024185",
    "course_id": "BIOCHEM 104",
    "course_uid": "course_d05294a8b47a4fb823115de2",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "024185",
    "source_subject_id": "200",
    "title": "Molecules to Life and the Nature of Science",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "061cb3bd7144f4ab37c96284f77537e801ec6654ca01d3ba7486c1587cd9c45e",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}