Foundations Of Bioinformatics

3 credits · Graduate School

This survey course introduces students to the experimental context and implementation of key algorithms in bioinformatics. The class begins with a review of basic biochemistry and molecular biology. The group will then focus on algorithms for matching and aligning biological sequences, given the context of molecular evolution. The emphasis will move from comparing sequences to the systems developed to enable high-throughput DNA sequencing, genome assembly, and gene annotation. Gene products will be the next focus as students consider the algorithms supporting proteomic mass spectrometry and protein structure inference and prediction. The informatics associated with transcriptional microarrays for genome-wide association studies will follow. Finally, the class will examine biological networks, including genetic regulatory networks, gene ontologies, and data integration. Formal training in software development is helpful but not required. Students will write and present individual projects. Undergraduates need the permission of the instructor to enroll. FALL. [3] Guo.