Programming Laboratory in Bioinformatics

This course will introduce current software tools and information resources in bioinformatics.  Topics will include rapid development programming languages (Python, Perl), relational databases (SQL), Java, exploratory data analysis in R and web services programming.  The course will introduce computational biology applications (BLAST, BioConductor, Cytoscape and GenePattern).  There will be a class project creating an information resource in genomics and molecular biology that will use these tools to retrieve bioinformatics data from multiple internet resources, build an integrated database and deliver web forms and graphical access.  Grades will be based on programming exercises and participation in class discussions and cooperative development projects.