Computational Genomics (KIZ, Fall 2024)
Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, City University of New York, Hunter College & Graduate Center
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weil Cornell Medical College
Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ)
Course Overview
Welcome to Computational Genomics, a 9-week computer workshop for graduate students. A genome is the total genetic content of an organism. Driven by breakthroughs such as the decoding of the first human genome and next-generation DNA -sequencing technologies, biomedical sciences are undergoing a rapid and irreversible transformation into a highly data-intensive field.
Genome information is revolutionizing virtually all aspects of life sciences including basic research, medicine, and agriculture. Meanwhile, use of genomic data requires life scientists to be familiar with concepts and skills in biology, computer science, as well as data analysis.
This workshop is designed to introduce computational analysis of genomic data through hands-on computational exercises, using published studies.
The pre-requisites of the course are college-level courses in molecular biology, cell biology, and genetics. Introductory courses in computer programming and statistics are preferred but not strictly required.
Learning goals
By the end of this course successful students will be able to:
- Use Linux commands & compose simple shell scripts to automate a bioinformatics pipeline
- Program in Python for parsing texts and simulating evolution
- Visualize data and perform statistical analysis using R/RStudio
- Compose a bioinformatics research report
Web Links
- Install R base: https://cloud.r-project.org
- Install R Studio (Desktop version): http://www.rstudio.com/download
- Download: R datasets
- A reference book: R for Data Science (Wickharm et al)
- Github repository: Computational Skills for Biologists (Allesina & Wilmes)
Assignments, Quizzes, and Final Report
Student performance will be evaluated by attendance, three (3) quizzes, six (6) assignments, and a final report:
- Attendance & participation: 30 pts
- Assignments: 6 x 10 = 60 pts
- Open-Book Quizzes: 3 x 20 pts = 60 pts
- Final presentation: 50 pts
Total: 200 pts
Course Schedule
Week 1, Thursday, Oct 10, 2024
- Computer setup: Linux terminals; Install mini-conda: https://docs.anaconda.com/miniconda/
- Pre-test 1: Tree-thinking Skills
- Pre-test 2: Genomics & Data Science
Week 2, Thursday, Oct 17, 2024
- Linux Tutorial: BpWrapper Toolkit (https://github.com/bioperl/p5-bpwrapper)
- Assignment 1
Week 3, Thursday, Oct 24, 2024
- Quiz #1
- Python Tutorial I: Advanced Python
- Assignment 2
Week 4, Thursday, Oct 31, 2024
- Python Tutorial II: Regular expression & scientific computing with Python
- Assignment 3
Week 5, Thursday, Nov 7, 2024
- Quiz #2
- Computer setup: R & RStudio
- R Tutorial 1: Basic R
- Assignment 4
Week 6, Thursday, Nov 14, 2024
- R Tutorial 2: Data visualization & basic statistics
- Assignment 5
Week 7, Thursday, Nov 21, 2024
- Quiz #3
- Genomics Tutorial 1: Cluster analysis & scRNA analysis
- Final report (draft 1: Background, Hypothesis, Significance, Material & Methods)
Week 8, Thursday, Nov 28, 2024
- Genomics Tutorial 2. NGS data analysis
- Final report (draft 2: Results & Discussion)
Week 9, Thursday, Dec 5, 2024
- Genomics Tutorial 3. Monte Carlo simulations of genome evolution
- Final report (draft 3: Conclusions, future directions, reference)
- Final report due Nov 26
Week 10, Thursday, Dec 10, 2024
- Final presentation