The Department of Biological Sciences (DBS) was established in 1997 following the amalgamation of the Departments of Animal Biology, Biochemistry and Microbiology and Plant Biology. At that time, the Molecular Biology program was established and inaugurated. Since then, the department has grown and expanded its curriculum and programs to contribute to a variety of minor degrees, including Forensic Science, Marine Biology and Environmental Sciences. 

The department is the largest of all departments in the Faculty of Science and Kuwait University as it offers five major degrees and numerous service courses. The degrees offered include a B.Sc in Animal Biology, Plant Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology. 

The department also offers graduate degrees (M.Sc) in those majors in addition to a more recently developed M.Sc degree in Biotechnology. In addition, it contributes to interdisciplinary M.Sc degrees, such as the Joint degree in Molecular Biology and M.Sc in Forensic Sciences. Currently, there are 58 academic staff members, most of whom are newly joined staff,. 

The current ranks of the academic staff are 39 assistant professors, 12 associate professors and 8 full professors. There are also 8 mission candidates who are expected to complete their PhD and join in the coming five years, bringing new expertise and technologies to the department. Most academic staff members are research-active and accept both undergraduate and graduate students on their research teams through their enrollment in the research project course and thesis project, respectively. 

Many of the courses offered by the department include laboratory sessions in which the 36 teaching assistants supervise these sessions. There are also 40 technical staff and 12 administrative staff. The department has now transferred to the new campus in Sabah Al-Salem University City, which consists of more than 70 state-of-the-art teaching laboratories and specialized scientific units that can facilitate the development of new courses in line with the latest developments in biological sciences.