Spring 2027

Biology of Viruses

Biology of Viruses covers animal virology at the molecular level, focusing on virus structure, replication/lifecycle, pathogenesis, and prevention.

offering recorded2 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Paul Friesen4.0/5Andrew Mehle3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Andrew Mehle

The course was described as tough, with detailed lecture slides that could feel overwhelming, though students advised focusing on general concepts rather than every tiny detail.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify and recognize fundamental members of the predominant families of RNA and DNA viruses that affect animals (humans included) by causing viral diseases, including AIDS, cancer, flu, and COVID-19

  • Describe and demonstrate the basic concepts of virus particle structure and the biochemical mechanisms for entry and multiplication of diverse RNA and DNA viruses

  • Recognize and apply the basic principles of virus transmission and viral pathogenicity, combined with the factors that contribute to virus emergence and evolution, to situations involving virus outbreaks that affect global health

  • Identify and evaluate individual steps in a virus' replication cycle that can be effectively targeted by anti-viral drugs for pharmaceutical intervention of virus diseases

  • Design effective strategies for a) prevention of infection through development of viral vaccines and b) treatment of diverse human diseases by gene therapy through the design and administration of genetically engineered virus vectors

  • Use knowledge gained in lecture to critically assess primary literature and data presented in the weekly Molecular Virology Seminar Series

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

(BIOCORE 381 and 382),ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 151,M M & I 301, or graduate/professional standing

BIOCHEM/MM&I 575

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Paul Friesen

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.80/5 from 10 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 2024: 2.66 GPA, 32.3% A/AB (n=31 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.88 GPA, 35.3% A/AB (n=34 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.72 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=27 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.00/5 from 1 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.

Past student reviews · Andrew Mehle

Andrew Mehle led weekly discussions that students found extremely useful, offering hints on problem sets and tests. He was described as a great lecturer, though his detailed slides were sometimes overwhelming, so students advised focusing on general ideas rather than every tiny detail.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 2.66 GPA, 32.3% A/AB (n=31 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.88 GPA, 35.3% A/AB (n=34 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.72 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=27 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ANDREW MEHLE is recorded teaching in Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAUL FRIESEN is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 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 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1800
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1800

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

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Andrew Mehle

Students found the course challenging but supported by invested professors and TAs. Professor Mehle was a great lecturer with detailed slides that required focusing on general ideas.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 2.66 GPA, 32.3% A/AB (n=31 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.88 GPA, 35.3% A/AB (n=34 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.72 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=27 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Andrew Mehle

The course was described as tough, with detailed lecture slides that could feel overwhelming, though students advised focusing on general concepts rather than every tiny detail.

Past student reviews · Andrew Mehle

Weekly discussions were extremely useful, providing hints on problem sets and tests. Professors and TAs were very invested in student success.

Topics

  • Virus structure, viral replication/lifecycle, pathogenesis, and prevention.
  • Virus transmission, pathogenicity, emergence, evolution, and global health outbreaks.
  • Development of viral vaccines and gene therapy using genetically engineered virus vectors.

Skills

  • Identify and recognize fundamental members of predominant RNA and DNA virus families affecting animals.
  • Describe and demonstrate basic concepts of virus particle structure and biochemical mechanisms for entry and multiplication.
  • Identify and evaluate steps in the viral replication cycle targetable by anti-viral drugs.
  • Design strategies for viral vaccine prevention and gene therapy using engineered virus vectors.
  • Critically assess primary literature and data in the weekly Molecular Virology Seminar Series.

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

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
BIOCHEM/MM&I 575 · Spring 2027

Biology of Viruses

Recorded 2026-10-14
BIOCHEM/MM&I 575 · Spring 2027

Biology of Viruses

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "title": "Biology of Viruses",
    "credits_min": 2,
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Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
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 
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  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "d5019fc0fb410445fa2fa4e901fbf73a939fb9352c12f8052a3cbc3804c4fd3c",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}