Programming for Biologists

Catalog description

This course provides introductory theory and hands-on training in bioinformatics for graduate students or advanced undergraduates in biology who have no prior computational experience. Knowledge of foundational concepts and practical applications acquired in this course will provide a starting point for further advanced study in bioinformatics and computational biology. Hands-on exercises will introduce students to the Linux operating system and provide basic computer programming skills as applied to bioinformatics, using Python. Topics covered: pairwise and multiple sequence alignment, BLAST and related algorithms, sequence motifs, Hidden Markov Models, gene expression analysis, and resources for functional associations (gene ontology, pathways and networks).