Using bioinformatics for
better understanding of
genes
Becky Seipelt
Karla Marriott
Arlin Toro
Vilma Martinez
Roger Lui
http://artedi.ebc.uu.se/course/BioInfo-10p-2006/projects/katarzyna/bioinformatics.jpg
DNA

Promoters
Gene finding
Variation
Probability
DOGMA
1. Gene finding
RNA
 PROTEIN
Transcription
Splicing
Editing
Modifications
Human Gene
Variation
Translation
Editing
Modifications
Structure
Complexes
 Function  phenotype
Structure
Complexes
Ideas
A FEW Resources
TRANSLATE
2. Case study using a normal and
a known mutant gene
Proposed activities
Becky Seipelt, Middle
Tennessee State University
rseipelt@mtsu.edu
•Honors Genetics (BIOL3250H)
•2 blocks of 3 hours
•Sophomore-seniors, mostly
sophomores
•Transcription and translation
“learned” at least twice, perhaps
more
•Goals:
•deeper understanding of
processes and regulation
•more engaged students
• Active learning activity
– Perhaps animation comparison
• Give a small sequence file with 2-5
genes within.
• Ask students to figure out how the
cell “knows” where a gene is, i.e.,
where to start and stop
transcription, and where to start
and stop translation.
• Introduce ‘gene finding’
algorithms for comparison
(DOGMA)
• Ask students to compare how
“we” and nature differ?
Lab exercise-Mitochondrial DNA Analysis
http://www.edvotek.com/images/332.jpg
Students will use
DOGMA to identify
genes that they
amplify with PCR
Working with the Sequence
Blast and other analysis
evolutionary problems
How this project using DOGMA will help me teaching
my genetics course
The next time I teach the part of
genomes and proteomes in my
genetics
course,
in
the
explanation of
comparative
genomics, I can show similarities
between different genomes and
introduce them the evolutionary
relationships between organisms
of different species and the
information that some species
are more related than others.
Computational and systems biology
7-week course.
For comp. bio. part, either do sequence
alignment problem if more math majors OR
bioinformatics using data and software
available on the web like what I have
learned in this conference.
• Development of new course targeting seniors and
juniors
• Involves lecture and laboratory
• Research- DNA sequencing, translation and
transcription to protein
• Using software such as DOGMA, Translate, BLAST