New Course in Bioinformatics to Begin in January

UPEI is offering a new course in bioinformatics, developed by Dr. Yingwei Wang of the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology. It will be offered for the first time in the Winter semester, 2006. Bioinformatics merges computer science with molecular biology. Specifically, it is the use of computers to compile, analyze, and present vast amounts of biological data.

The introduction of this new course is timely. Bioinformatics is expected to play a key role within the growing biosciences sector on Prince Edward Island. Designed for upper level computer science and biology students, the course will also be open to suitably qualified people working within government and the private sector. Some of the topics to be covered in the course include biological databases, gene prediction, and phylogenetic analysis which looks at the evolution of particular species, genes, or even viruses.

It is Dr. Wang's hope to not only teach the students about the tools of today, but to instill in them the skills to approach new problems. "Nowadays, bioinformatics is an integral part of modern biology. Using powerful computational techniques, bioinformatics skills enable us to investigate and solve many new problems, both practical and theoretical," says Dr. Wang.

Dr. Wang's personal research is on genomic signatures. The idea is that each species - human, mouse, flower - has an individual "fingerprint" that may be identified by looking at even a small part of its DNA sequencing. These signatures can be represented as a computer generated picture, one that is the same for all members of that species. The long-term goal of this field is the development of a database of these signatures for all species, to be used the way the periodic table is used in chemistry, at a fundamental identification level.

Students in the new bioinformatics course stand to benefit as Dr. Wang brings his research expertise into the classroom.