Introduction to Bioinformatics

Course Description

This is an introductory course that covers the topics of big data bioinformatics and its uses in basic research, healthcare, and the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. In many ways, advances in this discipline have helped make major discoveries in the recent years leading to new opportunities. That is why many biologists are starting to see data skills as essential to their studies and research.

The topics are organized into 3 major segments:

• Introduction to Big Data Bioinformatics
• Bioinformatics in Healthcare
• Translational Bioinformatics

This course is designed to introduce undergraduate and graduate-level students in biology or related fields to the field of bioinformatics, or the intersection of informatics and biology, and the opportunities that come with the available big data for research and industry. Students will receive an introduction to some of the many exciting ways this discipline is applied in health care, agriculture, environmental sciences, public health, and more. 

The course begins with a survey and concludes with an 8-question evaluation at the end. The assessment is a multiple-choice survey that should only take a few minutes to complete. There is a completion certificate available for students completing all of the lessons and quizzes in this course.

Before continuing with the lesson, please see this brief introductory video about the courses and projects you will find in later sessions: 

After completing this general overview, you are welcome to proceed to project-based courses like Transcriptomics and Genomics.