More exercises?

Some of you have asked for more exercises lest they forget what they have learnt in the workshop.

I will add some links below, but remember: Google is your friend!

http://www.macalester.edu/~shoop/courses/CHEM58_S03/index.html

Combat bacteria using computational biology

Using computational biology, you may be able to predict antibiotic effectiveness and resistance

PDB educational features and new tools

The Protein Data Bank (PDB) is currently evolving. The new beta site is out and is expected to be released soon in a stable version.

Also, there are two interesting features that need to be highlighted in PDB:

– Educational resources, especially the “Molecule of the month” feature

– For any given molecule, try to view the structures in “Protein Workshop” format. This format does not require you to download/install any software. Once you click on the link, an java-based application will open. This should work on most new systems (i.e., not older than 3-4 computers)

From Science: A Scientist’s Nightmare: Software Problem Leads to Five Retractions

Science 22 December 2006

Vol. 314. no. 5807, pp. 1856 – 1857
DOI: 10.1126/science.314.5807.1856

News of the Week

SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING:
A Scientist‘s Nightmare: Software Problem Leads to Five Retractions

Greg Miller Until recently, Geoffrey Chang’s career was on a trajectory most young scientists only dream about. In 1999, at the age of 28, the protein crystallographer landed a faculty position at the prestigious Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California. The next year, in a ceremony at the White House, Chang received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the country’s highest honor for young researchers. His lab generated a stream of high-profile papers detailing the molecular structures of important proteins embedded in cell membranes.

read on

Bioinformatics and the epidemiology of Influenza A

A very recent and very powerful study was recently published in the open-access journal: PLOS Pathogens, one of the top journals on Microbiology and Infectious disesases…

Stochastic Processes Are Key Determinants of Short-Term Evolution in Influenza A Virus

The article is not very easy and is full of terms that need background knowledge, but you should get a good idea on the work from the Abstract (Synopsis) and Introduction.

Bioinformatics for vaccine development

Most of you asked for more/better examples that show how bioinformatics alone can lead to discovery and practical applications.
Here is one paper  I  found: In silico and microarray-based genomic approaches to identifying potential vaccine candidates against Leptospira interrogans.

Course evaluation

Please remember to turn in the course evaluation forms (filled).