Minor Bioinformatics for Life Science Students

Coordinator: Michiel Noback [NOMI]

More and more, lab technicians encounter data and analysis challenges unsolvable (or unsuitable) for traditional means of storage and exploration (i.e. Excel). Therefore, this minor focuses on those computer skills that will help tackling data handling and analysis challenges in modern life science research. Subjects that will be dealt with are Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies and their applications, and many aspects of data processing: storage strategies, exploration, visualization and analysis. Along the way, basic programming skills in Python and R will be learned.

The first half (quarter) of this minor will revolve around the essentials and applications of modern sequencing technologies, culminating in a project in which the student will analyze the DNA of a patient with the goal of identifying those genomic variants that are the most likely candidates for causing a certain disease.