Bioinformatics analysis of biological sequences — from sequence to structure 2022 ONLINE; Done

Objectives

Objectives: Acquire knowledge regarding bioinformatic tools available to predict nucleic acid (RNA, DNA or Nucleic Acids Mimics) and protein three-dimensional structure, as well as autonomy and critical thinking in the use of those tools.

Develop skills on the use of bioinformatics software freely available on the Internet and to interpret the biological meaning of the results.

Overview

Nucleic acids are the molecular base of life through their unique ability to store and proliferate genetic information from DNA to proteins, through RNA. Besides storing genetic information, nucleic acids are also involved in other biological functions such as enzymatic catalysis and transcriptional regulation. Computational tools for prediction of nucleic acid structures are used for the identification and modelling of biologically important nucleic acid structures. The recent successes in predicting RNA three-dimensional structure directly from sequence and in designing sequences that self-assemble into predefined DNA and RNA nanostructures show that nucleic acid structure is predictable and controllable. The prediction and design approaches deal with reverse problems of relating sequence and structure, but share the main computational principles, visual representations and modelling approaches. This course will introduce the nucleic acid and protein structure prediction tools together with an overview of their current capabilities and deficiencies. There are thousands of totally sequenced genomes freely available on the Internet. The number keeps on growing as at least one genome sequence is released every day. Large-scale sequencing requires bioinformatics analysis, whose algorithms will be the aim of this course, and that underlie the generation of reliable databases. Algorithms are also the basis of reliable sequence databases generation. An intelligent analysis of these databases allows the extraction of information and scientific knowledge.

At the end of this course, researchers, molecular biology students, or health professionals will be able to predict the three-dimensional structure of nucleic acid and proteins from their sequence and use the acquired knowledge to improve or create new methodologies in molecular biology research and diagnostics. They will also learn how to perform different analyses of nucleic acids and proteins sequences to discover biological knowledge.

This course can have a recognition of 6 ECTs for FCUL PhD students enrolling in it as part of their first doctoral year. These students need to deliver two reports after the course. For students only requiring 5 ECTs recognized in their specific PhD programmes the last 3.5 hours of the course are not mandatory, they need to deliver only the main report and the certificate will be on 'Topics in bioinformatics analysis of biological sequences'. Such report(s) are also advised for other students requesting creditation of the course in their institutions.

Minimal formation of students: bachelor degree in Biology, Biochemistry or related areas.