Would it be considered normal to take biopsies during a colonscopy?

Depends : Screening colonoscopy may not require any biopsy, but when the procedure is done to establish a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, or infectious causes, multiple biopsies are taken. Of course, any polyp, tumor or ulcer seen on colonoscopy is biospied or removed, as that is the particular advantage of colon screening with colonoscopy.