| CODE | MMB5009 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Bioinformatics | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for Molecular Medicine and Biobanking | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit will educate the student on the intersection of the molecular biology and computer science fields. This lecture and tutorial-based study-unit accompanies the student through a number of different bioinformatics techniques at varying molecular biology scales (e.g. genomics, RNA, protein, etc). Irrespective of the student's background (whether in computer science and or molecular biology), this unit will give an overview of the tools and databases available for bioinformatics analyses and how these function under the bonnet. The main themes of this unit are: - The many computational aspects of genomics (alignment, gene annotation, gene function prediction, expression, etc.); - Evolution (phylogenetic tree reconstruction etc.); - Protein analysis (protein annotation); - Structural biology (predicting secondary structures, homology modelling, etc.); - Biological networks (regulatory networks, metabolic pathways); - Systems biology (including cells and organisms); - Computer aided drug discovery (virtual screening, LBVS, SBVS, etc.). The assessment for this study-unit will highlight both the applications and the methods development aspects of bioinformatics. Study-unit Aims: The main aim of this study-unit is to equip the student to do postgraduate research in the area of bioinformatics. This includes: i) Provide students with an understanding of how life works at a molecular level, and how computational algorithms help us make novel discoveries in this area; ii) Give an appreciation not only of the tools and data available, but also of the computational techniques used to build bioinformatics software; iii) Cross train scientists in this multidisciplinary field (statistics, computer programming, biology, etc.); iv) Prepare students for career opportunities in the analysis of molecular biology data, whether on the applications or method development side. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Develop an understanding of the underlying computational techniques used in bioinformatics; - Implement main bioinformatics algorithms using a popular computer programming language (e.g. Python); - Execute a bioinformatics analyses (from start to finish), and understand strengths and limitations of the approach taken (evaluation); - Build computational software and models for use in a molecular biology setting. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Setup and automate, through computer programming, bioinformatics pipelines; - Critically evaluate different bioinformatics software and select the correct software required for their analysis; - Interpret results from main bioinformatics software and understand the biological relevance; - Write scientific reports based on these results. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Course notes on VLE - Zvelebil, M. & Baum, J., 2008, Understanding Bioinformatics, Garland Science, US. - Lesk, A., 2014, 4th Edition, Introduction to Bioinformatics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. - Jones, N.C., 2004, An introduction to bioinformatics algorithms, MIT Press, US. - Pevzner, P. & Shamir R., 2011, Bioinformatics for Biologists, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. - Ramsden, J., 2015, 3rd Edition, Bioinformatics An Introduction, Springer, US. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite Study-units: ABS5004 or CIS5002/CIS5006 | |||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Panagiotis Alexiou Byron Baron Joseph Bonello Francesca Borg Carbott Jean Paul Ebejer (Co-ord.) Melissa Marie Formosa Dolores R. Galea |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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