About this course: Large-scale biology projects such as the sequencing of the human genome and gene expression surveys using RNA-seq, microarrays and other technologies have created a wealth of data for biologists. However, the challenge facing scientists is analyzing and even accessing these data to extract useful information pertaining to the system being studied. This course focuses on employing existing bioinformatic resources – mainly web-based programs and databases – to access the wealth of data to answer questions relevant to the average biologist, and is highly hands-on. Topics covered include multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetics, gene expression data analysis, and protein interaction networks, in two separate parts. The first part, Bioinformatic Methods I (this one), deals with databases, Blast, multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetics, selection analysis and metagenomics. This, the second part, Bioinformatic Methods II, covers motif searching, protein-protein interactions, structural bioinformatics, gene expression data analysis, and cis-element predictions. This pair of courses is useful to any student considering graduate school in the biological sciences, as well as students considering molecular medicine. Both provide an overview of the many different bioinformatic tools that are out there. These courses are based on one taught at the University of Toronto to upper-level undergraduates who have some understanding of basic molecular biology. If you're not familiar with this, something like https://learn.saylor.org/course/bio101 might be helpful. No programming is required for this course.
Taught by: Nicholas James Provart, Professor
Cell & Systems Biology
| Commitment | 12-18 hours videos and labs |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
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excellent
Fantastic first intro course into Bioinformatics and greatly look forward to the second one.
A nice introduction to bioinformatic methods. I learned some useful skills from this course that I'll be able to implement in my future research. I would recommend that people who take the course do some reading outside of the course material as sometimes the lectures skim over things with an expectation that you know it all.
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The course is thought by an amazing instructor who was obviously giving his best to explain the basic concepts in bioinformatics to his audience! I would especially emphasize how useful labs were, as well as the quality of weekly quizzes and the final course assignment. I am recommending this course to beginners in bioinformatics with prior background in genetics, molecular biology, or at least in biology in general, as well as to everyone who would like to refresh their memory and develop bioinformatics-friendly way of thinking.