BIO 243 - (283) Bioinformatics: Information Technology in the Life Sciences

Course Units: 1

(Same as CSC 243) (Not offered in 2014-15) The disciplines of biology and information technology are intersecting with increasing frequency, most notably in the emerging field of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics has been fueled by the advent of large-scale genome sequencing projects, which has generated enormous sets of “mineable” data representing an invaluable resource for biologists. Biology and computer science students in the course will gain a working knowledge of the basic principles of the others’ discipline and will then collaborate together in class on bioinformatics projects. Topics include pairwise and multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetic trees, gene expression analysis, and personalized medicine. Prerequisite(s): BIO 225 or one course from CSC 103, CSC 104, CSC 105, CSC 106, CSC 107, CSC 109.