What to expect?
  • check  An overview of some of the major techniques used in bioinformatics
  • check  Hands-on experience with some of its most popular algorithms
  • check  Demonstratation on visualization packages for bioinformatics algorithms
  • check  Hands-on exercises using open source tools to understand the common bioinformatics tasks
  • check  Exposure to topics, examples, and problems that can be added to the repertoire of projects for CS1/CS2, data structures and algorithms, and other CS courses, including bioinformatics
When and Where?

date_range  Friday, February 23, 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm

room  Room 303, Baltimore Convention Center, One West Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201

school  No prior knowledge of biology is needed    laptop_mac  Laptop Required

Workshop Guide

Biology Background

Do you want to learn enough biology to be able to appreciate bioinformatics?

Yes? Do the following in the given order:

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Read some interesting facts about the Human Genome Project (1990-2003) whose primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome.

The Human Genome Project
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The slides are organized in the following way: the 3 states of DNA, RNA, Protein are discussed first, then the transitions between states are introduced: transcription from DNA to RNA, followed by translation from RNA to Protein.

Central Dogma of Molecular Biology
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Go through a review of the two transitions: transcription from DNA to RNA and translation from RNA to Protein.

Transcription and Translation
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This is a longer version of item 2 above. Make sure to cover the slides up to page 1.12.

Central Dogma of Molecular Biology Revisited.
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Use this sheet as a guide to the biology terms one has to understand to appreciate bioinformatics. Do you know them all?

Biology Terms
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Ready for some problem solving? Try these interesting problems.

Interesting Problems
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If you want to know more, choose "Central Dogma of Molecular Biology" and enjoy.

myDNA
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NOVA program. Requires Quick Time or Real Video Plug-in. Recommended segments: 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, and 16.

Cracking the Code of Life
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Do you want to know more? Please get in touch with me via email for additional links and pointers.

sami.khuri@sjsu.edu

recent_actors   Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Natalia Khuri for her help in preparing the workshop, David Matthes and Chris Brinegar for letting me sit in their biology classes, Robert Fowler for letting me audit and participate in 3 genetics classes, and Shantanu Deshmukh for developing this web page.