Course Description BME 380

Bioinformatics and Computational Molecular Biology

This course is an introduction to the application of computational methods to biological data for analysis and for discovery. The focus will be on computational methods in Genomics and Proteomics.

In Genomics, computational methods will include DNA sequencing and fragment assembly, identification of genes in DNA, gene regulation, expression, large data arrays,and methods to study genetic diversity,

In Proteomics, computational methods will embrace similarity, homology and analogy, protein folding and protein structure


At the conclusion of the course the student should understand:


  There are no rigid prerequisites. It is assumed that the student will have some familiarity with concepts of algorithms and computer basics, elementary biology ( particularly DNA, proteins and genes), and rudiments of probability theory. MATLAB is a required tool


Required Texts:
  • MATLAB A computer application available at the UCONN bookstore for $99
  • Bioinformatics Sequence and Genome Analysis, D.W. Mount,Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 2001 ISBN 0-87969-597-8 (2nd Ed Softcover. )

  • Suggested Texts:
  • Primer on Molecular Genetics (free download form Dept of Energy)
  • Introduction to Computational Molecular Biology, J.Setubal and J.Meidanis, PWS Publishing Company, ISBN: 0534952623
  • Data Mining Practical Machine Learning Tools and Techniques with JAVA Implementation. IH Witten and E Frank, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, ISBN