BS33720 - GENOMICS AND BIOINFORMATICS

Module Identifier

BS33720

Module Title

GENOMICS AND BIOINFORMATICS

Academic Year

2004/2005

Co-ordinator

Dr Michael K Winson

Semester

Semester 1

Other staff

Dr Glyn Jenkins, Miss Helen E Johnson, Dr Joanne S Porter, Dr Joanne V Hamilton, Professor Michael Young

Pre-Requisite

BS10910 or external equivalent, BS22520 , BS22720

Course delivery

Lecture

25 Hours

Seminars / Tutorials

12 Hours (6 x 2 hours workshop)

Other

10 Hours Workshop. 5 x 2hours workshops

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Exam	2 Hours Essays and data interpretation	60%
Semester Assessment	Poster presentation and Essay Poster to be submitted 25 November 2004 and essay to be submitted on 9 December 2004	40%
Supplementary Exam	2 Hours Two hour written examination (essays and data interpretation)	60%
Supplementary Assessment	Resubmission of failed coursework or alternative	40%

Learning outcomes

On completion of this applied module, students

will appreciate current research strategies for gene discovery and determining gene function (genomics) and biological data analysis and interpretation (bioinformatics)
will have practical experience and knowledge of the concepts underlying database access, sequence analysis, protein classification and functional assignment
will be able to utilise bioinformatics resources, including websites and software tools, to analyse gene and protein sequences
will have experience of presenting the results of bioinformatic analysis of gene and protein sequences in a research poster format to a mixed audience
will appreciate the range of computational methods being used to interpret functional genomics data
will appreciate the role that genomics and bioinformatics has to play in modern medicine
will be aware of the current status of the human genome project and its context in society.

Aims

This module is an integrated series of lectures, seminars and workshops covering the key expanding disciplines of genomics and bioinformatics. Genomics is a family of 'information technologies' for biology that are being used to obtain, interpret and exploit the complete sequences of the chromosomes and genomes of organisms ranging from bacteria to man.
Bioinformatics encompasses the methodologies (particularly computational) enabling the analysis and integration of information made available by structural, physiological taxonomic and genomic studies with the ultimate goal of assigning functions to genes. The results emerging from these two disciplines will inform new predictive strategies to identify new and useful genes and potential drug targets, understand gene behaviour, and develop novel therapeutic products. The module will provide both theoretical and practical training in laboratory-based genomics and computational biology.

Content

The lectures cover the following topics:

An introduction to genomics and bioinformatics
The Human Genome Project
Information retrieval from biological databases
Fundamentals of database searching

Computational gene finding
Sequence analysis
Primary structure analysis, pairwise and multiple sequence alignment
Protein classification and functional assignment
Phylogenetic analysis
Functional genomics
Investigation of model genomes
Metabolome, transcriptome & proteome analysis
Spectroscopic analysis and data interpretation methods
Specific examples of the application of genomics and bioinformatics to ongoing research at Aberystwyth

Reading Lists

Books
** Essential Reading
Brown, T.A (2002) Genomes 2 Bio Scientific Publishers Ltd.
Attwood, T.K. & Parry-Smith, D.J. Introdution to Bioinformatics Addison Wesley Longman Higher Education. 0582327881
** Recommended Background
Lewin, B. (1999) Genes VII Oxford University Press. 0198792778
Baxevanis, A.d. & Ouelletee, B.F. eds (1998) A practical guide to the analysis of genes and proteins Wiley.
Trends Supplement (1998) Trends guide to bioinformatics Elsevier Science.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6