Bioinformatics, Virtual Labs, and the Human Genome Project

 

Anne Cordon and Donna Messersmith

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2002, Volume 23

Abstract

This session introduces bioinformatics using a case study of pathogenic bacterial identification via a Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s virtual lab and NCBI web database searches. Another goal is to get the students thinking, writing and talking about the impact of the human genome project. Our students do the exercise independently coming together in the laboratory to present and discuss their findings–this feature makes the exercise feasible for large or small classes with limited laboratory computer resources. The sub-theme of this session is the use of virtual laboratories (vlabs) re-enforcing scientific concepts and methods to supplement lectures, tutorials or “wet” labs.

Keywords:  PCR, DNA sequencing, bioinformatics, polymerase chain reaction, BLAST, clustalW, multiple sequence alignment, genomics, 16S rDNA

University of Chicago (2001)