Iowa State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Bioinformatics

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Iowa State UniversityCollege of Liberal Arts and
SciencesBioinformatics Computational Biology
Undergraduate Major (BCBIO)

• BCBIO

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Intro to BCBIO major

• New Major. The new B.S. program in
  Bioinformatics and Computational Biology offered
  by Iowa State University's College of Liberal
  Arts and Sciences was approved by the Board of
  Regents in summer 2007. Its first class of
  freshmen entered fall 2008.
• Motivation
• Growing demand for individuals trained in
  bioinformatics and computational biology.
• Success of ISU graduate program in BCB.
• Administration. By departments of Computer
  Science Genetics, Development and Cell Biology
  and Mathematics.

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What is bioinformatics?

• Study how DNA is used by living
• organisms
• Study how DNA can be utilized to solve problems

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Sample ultimate problems

• What is the role of a particular gene?
• Does a particular gene help cause a disease?
• How does a drug affect a cell?
• Can we insert a gene into corn to protect it
  against diseases or pests?
• Can we design a drug to accomplish a particular
  purpose?
• Can we build a cell that eats pollution?

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Why would a student choose this major? (A)

• To prepare for graduate study in Bioinformatics
  or Computational Biology. Graduate programs in
  this field typically recruit students with dual
  majors at the undergraduate level, or a degree in
  computer science, biology, or mathematics with a
  documented interest in one of the other fields.
  Such approaches to BCB graduate study (1)
  typically take longer, (2) provide little
  introduction to the actual discipline and little
  practice translating between two very different
  languages of science. An undergraduate degree in
  BCBIO should make students attractive to the many
  bioinformatics Ph.D. programs around the country.
• To prepare for certain jobs in the pharmaceutical
  or biotechnology industries. The future is hard
  to predict. There are jobs related to high-tech
  agriculture (new varieties of plants), industrial
  organisms, biofuels, pharmaceuticals (designer
  drugs). Some of these jobs are in Iowa.

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Why would a student choose this major? (B)

• Interests matching the discipline. Genome
  analysis, genome annotation, comparative
  genomics, computational evolutionary biology,
  analysis of gene expression, prediction of
  molecular structure, modeling molecular and
  cellular networks/systems, data mining/synthesis
  of disparate data.
• To combine two interests in one degree. There
  are many students interested in biology and a
  second discipline, such as computer science,
  mathematics, statistics, physics, or engineering.
  BCBIO is one way for students to avoid
  surrendering either interest.
• For a diverse learning experience. The large
  group of participating faculty provides students
  with a multidimensional perspective and a broad
  range of possibilities to get involved in
  research.

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What type of student would probably be successful?

• The student should have an interest and
  competence in a quantitative science--computer
  science, mathematics, statistics, or engineering.
• The student must hold a fascination with biology,
  for it is biology that motivates all the problems
  of bioinformatics.
• Good communication skills and patience are
  essential because the student will need to
  communicate with both quantitative scientists and
  biologists, who speak very distinct languages.
  It can take years to build an interdisciplinary
  team able to solve one bioinformatics problem.
• The student must be a strong problem-solver and
  be creative, as s/he will need to make
  connections between disciplines that
  traditionally dont overlap and are largely
  taught in isolation. Most courses in the program
  are pure discipline courses.

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What are the requirements?

• In addition to degree requirements in the LAS
  Curriculum, BCBIO majors must satisfy the
  following requirements
• Complementary Courses for the BCBIO Major (34
  cr)1. Chemistry (177, 177L, 178) or (201, 201L)
  and 331.2. Physics 221.3. Statistics (330 or
  341) and 430.4. Biology 211, 211L, 212, 212L and
  314.
• Core Courses within the BCBIO Major (48 cr)
• 1. Genetics 313, 313L and 409.2. Computer
  Science 227, 228, 363, and 330 (or Cpr E 310).3.
  Mathematics 165, 166, 265 and (307 or 317).4.
  BCBIO 110, 211, 401, 402.5. BCBIO 490 or 491 (3
  cr)
• Bioinformatics Support Electives 3-9 credits
  to be chosen fromBCB 548, 593, 594, 596Physics
  222BBMB 404, 405Biology 315, 423, 462, 465,
  472Genetics 340, 410Statistics 342, 402, 416,
  432, 480Computer Science and Cpr E courses at
  the 300 level and aboveMathematics 266, 304,
  314, 385, 481.

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LAS College Requirements

• Foreign language
• Library 160
• English composition 150, 250, (312 or 314)
• Arts and Humanities (12 cr)
• Social Sciences (9 cr)
• Courses must include one satisfying a U.S.
  Diversity and one satisfying an International
  Perspective requirement

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What courses are good for sampling this major?

• The program is fully aware that many students do
  not know what BCBIO really is. Built into the
  requirements is an orientation course. It also
  brings together students who may not otherwise
  share many courses together.
• BCBIO 110. BCBIO Orientation (1-0) Cr. 0.5. F.
  First 8 weeks. Orientation to the area of
  bioinformatics and computational biology. For
  students considering a major in BCBIO.
  Specializations and career opportunities. Offered
  on a satisfactory-fail grading basis only.
• BCBIO 211. Introduction to Bioinformatics and
  Computational Biology. (3-0) Cr. 3. S. Perl
  programming, molecular biology, biological
  databases, sequence alignment, homology search,
  identification of sequence patterns, construction
  of phylogenetic trees, gene function prediction,
  gene structure prediction, genomic annotation and
  comparative genomics.

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Graduate Study in Bioinformatics

• Many students will continue to graduate school,
  whether for a masters or a doctoral degree.
• There seems to be a fair demand for M.S. level
  bioinformaticians in industry.
• The highest paying jobs often are for people with
  a Ph.D.

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What are the career possibilities for graduates?

• Academia. There is increasing demand for
  bioinformaticians in academia. To prepare for
  such careers, students would continue to graduate
  school for a Ph.D.
• Biotechnology industry. There is particular
  demand in biotechnology pertaining particularly
  to personal care, industrial organisms, and
  agriculture. This includes jobs in Iowa.
• Pharmaceutical industry. Designer drugs and
  predicting the in vivo effect of drugs in silico
  are two major, and still largely untapped
  possibilities for the pharmaceutical industry
  where bioinformaticians could have a role to play.

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Job Search Webpages

• Medzilla.com
• Biospace.com
• Jobsonline.com
• Bioplanet.com
• Bioinformatics.fr
• Biohealthmatics.com

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What do current job ads seek?

• Biological knowledge
• Database SQL server, Oracle, Sybase, Mybase,
  CORBA, Perl, Java, C, C, web scripting
• Genomic sequence analysis
• Molecular modeling tools
• Good bridge between molecular scientists and
  computer scientists
• Filter information, data mining

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Is there a minor?

• No. Not yet.

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Summary and Conclusion

• Bioinformatics is an exciting, relatively new
  discipline (10 B.S. programs in 2003, 40 programs
  in 2010) that many believe will be part of the
  foundation for the century of biology.
• Students are required to show skills in
  mathematics, statistics, computer science, and
  biology.
• http//www.collegeboard.com/