BIOL 295 - Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

(3.00)

This is an introductory course to the field of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, an emerging interdisciplinary field dealing with the application of computing methods in biology. The course will provide a brief introduction to contemporary molecular biology and evolutionary theory. It will introduce the concept of bioinformatics, its applications and its career opportunities. Applying a question-answer approach, it will then explore some of the main problems faced by biology in the last decades, such as genome sequencing and annotation, sequence-based search, structure or function prediction, and some of the computational methods and answers provided by the emerging field of Bioinformatics. Lecture content will be complemented with paper discussion sessions and home-based lab assignments. No prior programming/biology skills required. The course is intended for a multi-disciplinary audience with an emphasis on BINF, CMSC, BIOL, MATH, STAT and IS majors. Pre-requisite: MATH 151 or equivalent.

Course ID: 100281
Consent: No Special Consent Required
Components: Lecture
Course Equivalents: BIOL 313
Requirement Group: You must have completed MATH 151 with a “C” or better.