Genomics

4 units

This course is designed for beginning graduate students who want to become familiar with the basic concepts and applications of genomics. The course covers a wide range of topics including how genomes are mapped and sequenced as well as the latest computational and experimental techniques for predicting genes, splice sites, and promoter elements. High throughput techniques for ascribing function to DNA, RNA, and protein sequences including microarrays, mass spectrometry, interspecies genome comparisons, and genome-wide knock-out collections will also be discussed. Finally, the use of genomic techniques and resources for studies of human disease will be discussed. A heavy emphasis will be put on students acquiring the basic skills needed to navigate databases that archive sequence data, expression data and other types of genome-wide data. Through problem sets, the students will learn to manipulate and analyze the large data sets that accompany genomic analyses by writing simple computer scripts. While students will become sophisticated users of computational tools and databases, programming and the theory behind it are not covered in this course.