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BCBIO

Iowa State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Bioinformatics & Computational Biology Undergraduate Major (BCBIO). BCBIO. Intro to BCBIO major.

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BCBIO

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  1. Iowa State UniversityCollege of Liberal Arts and SciencesBioinformatics & Computational Biology Undergraduate Major (BCBIO) BCBIO Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  2. Intro to BCBIO major • New Major. The new B.S. program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology offered by Iowa State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was approved by the Board of Regents in summer 2007. Its first class of freshmen entered fall 2008. • Motivation • Growing demand for individuals trained in bioinformatics and computational biology. • Success of ISU graduate program in BCB. • Administration. By departments of Computer Science; Genetics, Development and Cell Biology; and Mathematics. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  3. What is “bioinformatics”? • Study how DNA is used by living organisms • Study how DNA can be utilized to solve problems Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  4. Sample ultimate problems • What is the role of a particular gene? • Does a particular gene help cause a disease? • How does a drug affect a cell? • Can we insert a gene into corn to protect it against diseases or pests? • Can we design a drug to accomplish a particular purpose? • Can we build a cell that eats pollution? Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  5. Why would a student choose this major? (A) • To prepare for graduate study in Bioinformatics or Computational Biology. Graduate programs in this field typically recruit students with dual majors at the undergraduate level, or a degree in computer science, biology, or mathematics with a documented interest in one of the other fields. Such approaches to BCB graduate study (1) typically take longer, (2) provide little introduction to the actual discipline and little practice translating between two very different languages of science. An undergraduate degree in BCBIO should make students attractive to the many bioinformatics Ph.D. programs around the country. • To prepare for certain jobs in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries. The future is hard to predict. There are jobs related to high-tech agriculture (new varieties of plants), industrial organisms, biofuels, pharmaceuticals (designer drugs). Some of these jobs are in Iowa. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  6. Why would a student choose this major? (B) • Interests matching the discipline. Genome analysis, genome annotation, comparative genomics, computational evolutionary biology, analysis of gene expression, prediction of molecular structure, modeling molecular and cellular networks/systems, data mining/synthesis of disparate data. • To combine two interests in one degree. There are many students interested in biology and a second discipline, such as computer science, mathematics, statistics, physics, or engineering. BCBIO is one way for students to avoid surrendering either interest. • For a diverse learning experience. The large group of participating faculty provides students with a multidimensional perspective and a broad range of possibilities to get involved in research. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  7. What type of student would probably be successful? • The student should have an interest and competence in a quantitative science--computer science, mathematics, statistics, or engineering. • The student must hold a fascination with biology, for it is biology that motivates all the problems of bioinformatics. • Good communication skills and patience are essential because the student will need to communicate with both quantitative scientists and biologists, who speak very distinct languages. It can take years to build an interdisciplinary team able to solve one bioinformatics problem. • The student must be a strong problem-solver and be creative, as s/he will need to make connections between disciplines that traditionally don’t overlap and are largely taught in isolation. Most courses in the program are pure discipline courses. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  8. What are the requirements? In addition to degree requirements in the LAS Curriculum, BCBIO majors must satisfy the following requirements: • Complementary Courses for the BCBIO Major (34 cr)1. Chemistry (177, 177L, 178) or (201, 201L) and 331.2. Physics 221.3. Statistics (330 or 341) and 430.4. Biology 211, 211L, 212, 212L and 314. • Core Courses within the BCBIO Major (48 cr) 1. Genetics 313, 313L and 409.2. Computer Science 227, 228, 363, and 330 (or Cpr E 310).3. Mathematics 165, 166, 265 and (307 or 317).4. BCBIO 110, 211, 401, 402.5. BCBIO 490 or 491 (3 cr) • Bioinformatics Support Electives: 3-9 credits to be chosen from:BCB 548, 593, 594, 596Physics 222BBMB 404, 405Biology 315, 423, 462, 465, 472Genetics 340, 410Statistics 342, 402, 416, 432, 480Computer Science and Cpr E courses at the 300 level and aboveMathematics 266, 304, 314, 385, 481. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  9. LAS College Requirements • Foreign language • Library 160 • English composition: 150, 250, (312 or 314) • Arts and Humanities (12 cr) • Social Sciences (9 cr) • Courses must include one satisfying a U.S. Diversity and one satisfying an International Perspective requirement Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  10. What courses are good for “sampling” this major? The program is fully aware that many students do not know what BCBIO really is. Built into the requirements is an orientation course. It also brings together students who may not otherwise share many courses together. BCBIO 110. BCBIO Orientation (1-0) Cr. 0.5. F. First 8 weeks. Orientation to the area of bioinformatics and computational biology. For students considering a major in BCBIO. Specializations and career opportunities. Offered on a satisfactory-fail grading basis only. BCBIO 211. Introduction to Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. (3-0) Cr. 3. S. Perl programming, molecular biology, biological databases, sequence alignment, homology search, identification of sequence patterns, construction of phylogenetic trees, gene function prediction, gene structure prediction, genomic annotation and comparative genomics. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  11. Graduate Study in Bioinformatics Many students will continue to graduate school, whether for a masters or a doctoral degree. There seems to be a fair demand for M.S. level bioinformaticians in industry. The highest paying jobs often are for people with a Ph.D. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  12. What are the career possibilities for graduates? • Academia. There is increasing demand for bioinformaticians in academia. To prepare for such careers, students would continue to graduate school for a Ph.D. • Biotechnology industry. There is particular demand in biotechnology pertaining particularly to personal care, industrial organisms, and agriculture. This includes jobs in Iowa. • Pharmaceutical industry. Designer drugs and predicting the in vivo effect of drugs in silico are two major, and still largely untapped possibilities for the pharmaceutical industry where bioinformaticians could have a role to play. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  13. Job Search Webpages • Medzilla.com • Biospace.com • Jobsonline.com • Bioplanet.com • Bioinformatics.fr • Biohealthmatics.com Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  14. What do current job ads seek? • Biological knowledge • Database: SQL server, Oracle, Sybase, Mybase, CORBA, Perl, Java, C, C++, web scripting • Genomic sequence analysis • Molecular modeling tools • Good bridge between molecular scientists and computer scientists • Filter information, data mining Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  15. Is there a minor? No. Not yet. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

  16. Summary and Conclusion • Bioinformatics is an exciting, relatively new discipline (10 B.S. programs in 2003, 40 programs in 2010*) that many believe will be part of the foundation for the “century of biology.” • Students are required to show skills in mathematics, statistics, computer science, and biology. *http://www.collegeboard.com/ Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Undergraduate Major

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