NBIA09038U Introduction to Bioinformatics (BioInf)

Volume 2013/2014
Education
Bacheloruddanenlsen i biologi
Content
Biological databases, sequence alignment (pairwise and multiple), phylogeny, protein and RNA structure, expression analysis, genome sequencing, mapping and assembly, next generation sequencing, systems biology.
Learning Outcome
After successfully completing the course students will be able to use, apply and understand the most important bioinformatical tools and theories that can facilitate their future work in biological sciences (e.g. biology, biochemistry, biomedicine etc.).

Knowledge:

At the conclusion of the course, the students should be able to:


  • Explain the basic concepts behind the covered topics.
  • Describe the major algorithms covered.
  • Suggest computational tools that could be used to solve a given biological problem.

 

Skills:

At the conclusion of the course, the students should be able to:


  • Apply programs for performing sequence alignment (pairwise and multiple), constructing phylogenies, predicting protein and RNA structure and analysing expression data.
  • Find and use Biological databases for retrieving and displaying information.
  • Work with data from next generation sequencing experiments.

Competencies:

At the conclusion of the course, the students should be able to:

  • Perform a correct computational analysis of a given biological problem, which includes the selection of relevant tools.
  • Explain and discuss strengths and weaknesses of the applied tools and how these affect the obtained results.
  • Suggest further analyses that could improve the results obtained.
Literature
See Absalon.
Basic genetics, biochemistry (incl. protein chemistry) and molecular biology.

It is recommended that biochemistry students follow the course after having passed Biologi A2, KemiUB, Biokemi 1+2, Molecular Genetics (theory); and biology students follow the course after having passed: Matematik/Statistik, Almen Biokemi, Almen Molekylærbiologi and Genteknologi 1; and molbiomed students should follow the course after having passed Molekylærbiologi, Signaltransduktion and Cellebiologi.
Lectures, exercises and workshops.
7 weeks with max 9 hours per week (6 lectures + 3 exercises).
Students should bring a laptop computer to fully benefit from the course, since the use of computers is tightly integrated in the course. Windows is the preferred operating system, but MacOS and linux are also possibilities. Students should know how to use and administer their computer productively. No expert knowledge or programming skills are needed. See course homepage for more details. It should be noted that the institute has a limited number of laptops that students can borrow for use during the lectures (not for homework etc.)
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 50
  • Lectures
  • 36
  • Preparation
  • 102
  • Theory exercises
  • 18
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral examination, 30 minutes
Individual exam based on a one week practical assignment.
Aid
Without aids
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Re-exam
Oral exam (30 min.) based on curriculum (no preparation and no aid).
Criteria for exam assesment

To get the grade 12 (outstanding performance, non or very few insignificant omissions):

  • The student can apply the tools covered in the course to solve different bioinformatics problems.
  • The student can correctly interpret the results and explain possible short-comings of the tools.
  • The student can perform a correct computational analysis of a given biological problem, including the selection of the most relevant tools.
  • The student can explain possible weaknesses of the analyses and suggest further analyses.
  • The student can explain the basic concepts behind all topics covered.
  • The student can describe the major algorithms covered.