In an era of DNA sequencing and new molecular biology techniques, scientists have become inundated with biological data. The interdisciplinary field of bioinformatics combines biology, computer science, mathematics, and statistics to overcome this challenge by creating methods of analyzing the wealth of biological data publicly available in databases, such as UniProt and NCBI.

In this lab, students will receive a hands-on introduction to this cutting-edge field, learning the importance of using novel technologies to diagnose and treat diseases with a genetic basis. Using a brief list of symptoms and their newfound knowledge regarding bioinformatics, students will diagnose two patients, Patient X and Patient Y, while compiling information about the proteins involved in their respective diseases.