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Dear Undergrads and Faculty, </div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);">Please see below for information from Prof. Bob Horvitz on Biology Advanced Undergraduate Seminars for
Spring 2026.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);">Descriptions and posters for each course can be found on the following page. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(150, 96, 125);"><u><a href="https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/" title="https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/" data-outlook-id="a38a9db9-8432-4c45-ade9-414548670a94" style="color: rgb(150, 96, 125); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/</a></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);">Please note that scheduling for these courses is flexible and will be determined jointly by
the prospective students and the instructors at the beginning of the semester. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);">**Please note, students who have taken the seminars before can share their experience with
any MIT students they think might be interested.</span></p>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">TO: MIT Biology Majors</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">FROM: H. Robert Horvitz, Professor of Biology</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">DATE: January 9, 2026</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I am writing to inform you of an exciting offering from the Department of Biology for</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">the 2026 spring semester: a very current seminar course, 7.341, Advanced Undergraduate Seminar,
Programming Immunity: Bioengineering</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">T</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Cells</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">to</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.15pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Fight</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Cancer</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">and</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Autoimmune</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.25pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.1pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Disorders</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.
A brief course description is enclosed. This course will encompass areas of genetics, genomics, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, immunology, cancer biology, stem cells, autoimmune diseases, vaccines, and biotechnology.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A student can take any number of Advanced Undergraduate Seminar courses. These courses,
which generally involve four to eight students, are for 6 units, graded pass/fail, and meet two hours each week. The focus is on reading and discussing the primary research literature. Most courses have one short written assignment and one oral presentation.
Most include field trips to MIT research laboratories and/or to companies using technologies discussed in the courses. The level of each course will be tailored to the students who enroll. Because of the small size of these courses, we expect students not
to drop these courses once they have begun.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The scheduling of these courses is flexible. The day of the week and 2-hour period of
the day each course will meet will be determined jointly by the prospective students and the instructors at the beginning of the semester.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">These courses offer a number of special features: small class size, a high degree of personal
contact with the instructor(s), a focus on the primary research literature, and an opportunity to discuss current problems in biology interactively. I believe these courses greatly enrich an undergraduate’s experience. There are limited alternative opportunities
available to undergraduates to interact closely with instructors who are experienced full-time researchers; to learn to read, understand, analyze and critique primary research papers; and to engage in the type of stimulating discussions and debates that characterize
how science is really done. Most advanced MIT undergraduates (generally juniors and seniors) have been sufficiently exposed to the basics of biology to be able to read the primary literature and appreciate both methodologies and cutting-edge advances. These
courses have two goals: first, to expose students to the kind of thinking that is central to contemporary biological research; and second, to impart specific knowledge in particular areas of biology. These courses are designed to be intellectually stimulating
and also to provide excellent preparation for a variety of future careers that require an understanding both of what modern biology is and of how it is done. Students who have taken Advanced Undergraduate Seminars in the past (different specific courses, same
general design)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">have been enormously enthusiastic about their experiences.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I am writing to you before Registration Day to encourage you to consider enrolling in
this seminar course. Please feel free to contact the instructor to learn more about this course and in particular to discuss possible meeting days and times if those listed are not possible for you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">To learn more about the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars, please check our website </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">(</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(149, 79, 114);"><u><a href="https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/" title="https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/" data-outlook-id="84e5bd8d-06c6-4a73-8a3a-5ca583e24e2c" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/</a></u></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">).</span></p>
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