The purpose of this interdisciplinary minor is to prepare students to enter the computer-intensive fields of bioinformatics, computational biology, computational chemistry, and molecular modeling, including genomics and proteomics. With the ever-increasing number of fully sequenced genomes, including the human genome, biological databases have grown at such a rate that storing, organizing, indexing, and ultimately mining the data have become key to answering biological questions. The methodologies of genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics analyze genome structures, patterns of gene expression, and protein structure and function, respectively. Information obtained by computational biology and computational chemistry is used in the design of new drugs to treat a variety of diseases. Major drug and biotechnology companies are eager to hire people trained in the combination of biology and computer science skills that this minor provides.

Bioinformatics Minor for Biology/Biotechnology Majors

Program Requirements

• Understand the intersectionality of biology, computer science, and mathematics in the context of the field
• Utilize existing tools to evaluate bioinformatics data, discover patterns, and draw conclusions
• Communicate bioinformatics information in both written and oral forms
• Develop laboratory skills that are used in the bioinformatics field