Computer-based laboratory on Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is the application of computer technology to the analysis of DNA and protein sequence information. Over the last 25 years, researchers have independently cloned and sequenced hundreds of thousands of DNA fragments from over 10,000 different species. Thousands of genes have been identified and for many their functions are known. All this biological information is stored in publicly accessible genetic databases and many computer programs are freely available on the internet to analyze this information.

In the bioinformatics lab we focus on DNA as an information molecule. Students will use computers to search gene banks, retrieve sequences, analyze DNA and protein sequence data, compare sequences and generate phylogenetic trees, and predict protein structure as part of a term project.

This Page last updated Monday, May 28, 2007 10:12 AM. For more information contact Mário Moniz de Sá