Genomics and Bioinformatics
Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of science building on genetics, molecular biology and evolutionary biology to study the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes and DNA sequences.
Bioinformatics defines the application of informatics, computer science, statistics and mathematics in the study of biological problems. Major research topics in bioinformatics are linked to the modelling of evolution, alignment of gene sequences, the assembly of genomes, predictions of protein structure and interactions, as well as predicting gene expression.
Upon successful completion of the course the student should:
Knowledge:
- Have broad knowledge of topics, theories, processes, tools and methods used in genomics and bioinformatics.
- Have specific knowledge of a selected set of algorithms (eg. Needleman-Wunsch and Smith-Waterman).
- Have a basic understanding of how bioinformatic tools can be built to address questions in genetics, molecular biology and evolutionary biology.
- Have a basic understanding of the special statistical considerations required for genomics analyses and how p-values can be derived from arbitrary distributions.
Skills
- Be able to explain aspects in genomics and bioinformatics at a basic level
- Be able to explain the most important theories associated with the analyses of genomic data and how biological information is encoded and interpreted within the genome.
- Be able to manipulate to obtain, manipulate and analyse data programatically.
General competence
- Be able to exchange views and experiences with other biologists and contribute to the development of good practice
- Develop understanding of modern scientific research in genomics and bioinformatics.
Compound evaluation, grading scale Letter grades
- Assessment task - presentation, comprises 0/100 of the grade, grading scale Approved/ Not approved.
- Paper, comprises 30/100 of the grade, grading scale Letter grades.
- Written Examination, 4 hours, comprises 70/100 of the grade, grading scale Letter grades.
Laptop, pencil, pen, ruler, simple calculator and bilingual dictionaries. No use of internet except Canvas.
Generating an answer using ChatGPT or similar artificial intelligence and submitting it wholly or partially as one's own answer is considered cheating.
BI122F Genetics and evolution
BI132F Biochemistry and Cell Biology
MA116F Mathematics/statistics for biologists
KJ104F General Chemistry and environmental chemistry
(or equivalent)