BI 2110 - Introduction to Bioinformatics

This hands-on, project-oriented course is designed to give students the opportunity to explore the theoretical background and practical applications of bioinformatics. Emphasis will be placed on the generation and analysis of biological sequences (e.g., DNA, RNA, or protein) to support research in the fields of ecology, biology, biomedical, and environmental science. This course aims to develop proficiency in aspects of computational science that are required to manage and derive meaning from the wealth of biological information generated by modern next-generation sequencing platforms. This will be achieved through various laboratory exercises where students will assemble and publish genomes from environmental bacterial isolates, assess the structure of different microbiomes via metabarcoding, and apply molecular genetics techniques to identify animal species being sold for human consumption. Prerequisite: BI 1110 General Biology I and BI 1120 General Biology II or ES 1110 Environmental Science: A Global Concern Credits: 4