Introduction to Bioinformatics Analysis

This course prepares Master's students in Biotechnology and related disciplines to answer biological questions using bioinformatic approaches, with an emphasis on biological reasoning rather than programming for its own sake. Students progressively will build computational confidence while learning how DNA, RNA, and protein analyses contribute to biological discovery, biomarker identification, and therapeutic target discovery. The course follows the Central Dogma (DNA → RNA → Protein) and treats computation as a tool for scientific discovery. Each week begins with a biological question, introduces the computational concepts needed to answer it, and concludes with an integrated hands-on analysis session using instructor-generated synthetic datasets. Lecture and hands-on computational work occur in the same class session (either a 90-minute lecture + 60-minute hands-on session, or a 60-minute lecture + 90-minute hands-on session, depending on the week's content). Pre-requisite: BIOL 0200 or equivalent