Bioinformatics Curriculum

Genomic Science Core Courses (15 credits)
(Master's and Ph.D. degrees)

BI/GS 501 Bioinformatics I (temporary numbers ST 590A and ST 590B) (3 cr)
Introduction to statistical and computational facets of genomic science; training in genomic data analysis and management.

BI/GS 611 Journal Club (temporary number PP 610G) (2 cr - one-credit course taken twice)
A weekly journal club in bioinformatics and functional genomics, in which students present and critique papers from the current literature. Each student presents once a semester, and each meeting contains two 25-minute presentations.

Note: Students take either GN 701 or BCH 703.

GN 701 Molecular Genetics (3 cr)
Structure and function of genetic material at the molecular level, considering both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. The aim is to describe genetics in terms of chemical principles.
OR
BCH 703 Macromolecular Synthesis and Regulation (3 cr)
Biochemistry of DNA replication, transcription, RNA processing and translation. Development of key concepts, techniques and applications relating to mechanisms and regulation of these processes by analysis of primary literature.

Note: Students take either GN 703 or BCH 701.

GN 703 Population and Quantitative Genetics (3 cr)
Mutation and origin of genetic variation. Measuring genetic variation in natural populations. Gene and genotype frequencies. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Values, means, genetic and environmental variance, heritability of quantitative traits. Random genetic drift and inbreeding. Natural and artificial selection. Theory and tests of models of maintenance of genetic variation. Molecular evolution of genes and proteins. Genome evolution.
OR
BCH 701 Macromolecular Structure (3 cr)
Introduction to the current understanding and methods used for the study of structures, thermodynamics and conformational dynamics of proteins, nucleic acids and membranes.

GS/GN 735 Functional Genomics (3 cr)
Methodology of experimental genomics; genome sequencing, gene expression arrays, genomic screens, proteomics. Aims and achievements of microbial, plant, animal, and human genome projects. Applications of genomics including parasitology, breeding, functional genomics, evolutionary genetics. Interface with bioinformatics, data technology.

GN 850 Professionalism and Ethics (1 cr)
The role of the scientist in society, ethical theory, data acquisition and ownership, scientific misconduct, authorship, peer review, conflicts of interest and commitment, intellectual property, ethics of teaching and mentoring, ethical treatment of animal and human subjects, ethics of genetics research, job hunting and interviewing.

Bioinformatics Core Courses (9 credits)
(Master's and Ph.D. degrees)

BI 502 Bioinformatics II (temporary number ST 590C) (3 cr)
In-depth training in sequence alignment, identifying patterns, evolution and phylogeny, structure prediction and other topics. At the end of the course, students should be prepared to initiate independent research in some area of bioinformatics and to provide technical support to research groups in the genomic sciences.

CSC 530 Computational Methods for Molecular Biology (3 cr)
Computer algorithms supporting genomic research: DNA sequence comparison and assembly, hybridization mapping, phylogenetic reconstruction, genome rearrangement, protein folding and threading.

Note: Students take either ST 512 or ST 590D or both.

ST 512 Experimental Statistics for Biological Sciences II (3 cr)
Covariance, multiple regression, curvilinear regression, concepts of experimental design, factorial experiments, confounded factorials, individual degrees of freedom and split-plot experiments. Computing laboratory addresses computational issues and use of statistical software.
AND/OR
ST 590D Statistics for Molecular Biology (3 cr)
Topics in theoretical statistics of relevance to bioinformatics, including likelihood, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, and Hidden Markov processes.

Elective Courses (9 to 12 credits)
(Master's and Ph.D. degrees)

Master's degree students take three or more elective courses (for 9 to 12 credits). These credits plus the 24 credits for core courses outlined above yield the total of 33 to 36 credit hours to complete the master's degree. Doctoral students also take a minimum of three electives.

Electives are chosen from the NC State University Graduate Catalog and must be approved by the student’s advisory committee. Generally any graduate-level course offered by the departments of Biochemistry, Computer Science, Genetics, Mathematics or Statistics would be appropriate. Courses of special relevance include:

• ST 552 Linear Models and Variance Components (3 cr)
• ST 641 Statistical Consulting (1 cr)
• ST/GN 721 Genetic Data Analysis (3 cr)
• GN 755 Advanced Population and Evolutionary Genomics (3 cr)
• ST/GN 756 Computational Molecular Evolution (3 cr)
• ST/GN 757 Statistics for Molecular Quantitative Genetics (3 cr)
• ST/GN 770 Statistical Concepts in Genetics (3 cr)
• ST 790G Statistics in Genetic Epidemiology (3 cr)
• ST 793 Advanced Statistical Inference I (3 cr)

Additional Ph.D. Core Courses in Bioinformatics (8 credits)

ST 521 Statistical Theory I (3 cr)
Probability tools for statistics: description of discrete and absolutely continuous distributions, expected values, moments, moment generating functions, transformation of random variables, marginal and conditional distributions, independence, order statistics, multivariate distributions, concept of random sample, derivation of many sampling distributions.

ST 522 Statistical Theory II (3 cr)
General framework for statistical inference. Point estimators: biased and unbiased, minimum variance unbiased, least mean square error, maximum likelihood and least squares, asymptotic properties. Interval estimators and tests of hypotheses: confidence intervals, power functions, Neyman-Pearson lemma, likelihood ratio tests, unbiasedness, efficiency and sufficiency.

BI/GS 811 Journal Club (temporary number PP 810G) (2 cr - one-credit course taken twice)
A weekly journal club in bioinformatics and functional genomics, in which students present and critique papers from the current literature. Each student presents once a semester, and each meeting contains two 25-minute presentations.

Dissertation Research (31 credits)

ST/GN 895, Doctoral Dissertation Research, provides credit hours for dissertation research. Thirty-one credit hours of dissertation research plus 41 classroom credit hours (as outlined above) yields the 72 credit hours required for the Ph.D. degree.