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The faculty members of the department administer the graduate programs in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics. The department also offers a large number of courses to undergraduates, and the faculty are involved in undergraduate advising and training in the College of Life Sciences' Biological Sciences Program. At the undergraduate level, the faculty play the leading role in the college in the management of three areas of emphasis within the Biological Sciences Program: Microbiology, Plant Biology, and Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics. In addition, a significant number of the department's faculty participate in several inter-departmental graduate programs, including MOCB, BEES, and MEES.

The department has benefited from a major expansion during the last several years as a result of recruitment of new faculty members. In addition, the unit has undergone a major expansion as a result of a reorganization in the college. As part of its Strategic Plan, the College of Life Sciences embarked two years ago on a major reconfiguration of several departments. The realignment has reconfigured some units on the basis of disciplinary norms and approaches used in investigating major questions in biology as opposed to the former divisions of departments according to organisms.

The result of the reorganization has been the creation of a strong department, whose faculty interests and contribution span broad complementary disciplines. The teaching and research spaces occupy most of two buildings, the Microbiology Building and HJ Patterson Hall. The department has strong research nuclei in molecular biology, cell biology, prokaryotic biology, immunology and virology, molecular and developmental genetics, pathogenic microbiology, plant biology, and molecular evolution.