Bioinformatics – Minor
For information, contact Dr. Richard Kliman.
The minor in bioinformatics is designed to provide students with training for
application of available computational biology tools to their coursework and
research, and to prepare them for a wide variety of postgraduate jobs and
graduate/professional schools in the field. The minor is appropriate for
Biology, Biochemistry, Genetic Engineering, Biodiversity and Conservation
Biology, and Neuroscience majors who are most interested in using the software
for analysis of biological/chemical data, and also for computer science
students who are most interested in participating in the actual development of
the software. The minor incorporates these two tracks by allowing students to
choose in their upper-level coursework the particular area they want to
specialize in. The minor targets Biology, Genetic Engineering and Computer
Science majors in their first two years in college who want to pursue a more
quantitative approach to biological research and analysis. It also targets
prospective students who want to pursue an education in both biology and
computer science, and who are unclear as to which area they want to pursue in
greater depth.
The W. M. Keck Imaging Center and W. M. Keck Bioinformatics Laboratory serve as
the nucleus of this new academic program in computational biology, an area that
is expected to be the next frontier in biological research.
Requirements for the Bioinformatics Minor
BIO 121 Principles of Biology 4 credits
BIO 122 Principles of Biology 4 credits
(Students with Advanced Placement credit for BIO 121 and/or 122
are required to take the BIO 121 and 122 Labs.)
BIO 235 Ecology, Evolution and Genetics 4 credits
BIO 236 Cell and Molecular Biology 4 credits
Students who have previously taken BIO 222, 231, or 234 should consult their
advisors or the department website to determine the courses needed to complete
the major.
BIO 300 Evolution 4 credits
BIO 323 Introduction to Bioinformatics 3 credits
BIO 333 Advanced Bioinformatics 3 credits
Plus choose one from the following two courses:
BIO 248 Biostatistics 3 credits
MAT 210 Probability and Statistics 3 credits