Back to Bioinformatic Methods I
University of Toronto

Bioinformatic Methods I

Large-scale biology projects such as the sequencing of the human genome and gene expression surveys using RNA-seq, microarrays and other technologies have created a wealth of data for biologists. However, the challenge facing scientists is analyzing and even accessing these data to extract useful information pertaining to the system being studied. This course focuses on employing existing bioinformatic resources – mainly web-based programs and databases – to access the wealth of data to answer questions relevant to the average biologist, and is highly hands-on. Topics covered include multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetics, gene expression data analysis, and protein interaction networks, in two separate parts. The first part, Bioinformatic Methods I (this one), deals with databases, Blast, multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetics, selection analysis and metagenomics. The second part, Bioinformatic Methods II, covers motif searching, protein-protein interactions, structural bioinformatics, gene expression data analysis, and cis-element predictions. This pair of courses is useful to any student considering graduate school in the biological sciences, as well as students considering molecular medicine. Both provide an overview of the many different bioinformatic tools that are out there. These courses are based on one taught at the University of Toronto to upper-level undergraduates who have some understanding of basic molecular biology. If you're not familiar with this, something like BIO101 from Saylor Academy (https://learn.saylor.org/course/view.php?id=889) might be helpful. No programming is required for this course. Bioinformatic Methods I is regularly updated, and was completely updated for January 2026.

Status: Biostatistics
Status: Life Sciences
BeginnerCourse20 hours

Featured reviews

RG

5.0Reviewed Nov 4, 2017

I enjoyed doing the course. It is exciting to see how much one can learn from a few gene or protein sequences. Thank you for making the course understandable to a beginner in bioinformatics!

NS

4.0Reviewed Oct 2, 2015

A thorough course for beginners with very interesting labs! I was pleasantly surprised with how much and how easily I learned bioinformatics skills with this course. Well done!

PG

5.0Reviewed Jan 21, 2019

This course is so accurate and useful to the bioinformatic students and the science students who needs help with the computational biology. I would recommend this course to everyone.

ED

5.0Reviewed Apr 26, 2017

Great course. All lectures provide a biological context for the tools you learn in the labs. The labs themselves provide a great introduction to the many tools available for bioinformatic analysis.

AA

5.0Reviewed May 14, 2020

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to get into research in Biology. This course gives walkthroughs of complex analysis by the use of important bioinformatics tools.

JM

5.0Reviewed Aug 27, 2015

Great course. The lectures were very clear and informative. The labs were a very nice, easy way to get a hands on understanding of the tools being learned. Thank you!

DV

5.0Reviewed Jan 25, 2022

Great course for beginners! Easy to follow and prof. Provart explains everything in great detail. I can't wait to continue learning other courses within this specialization!

SR

5.0Reviewed Sep 14, 2021

Explanation was on point. As a beginner didn't have to face much problem to understand terminologies and concepts and PDF of the study materials played an important role to understand.

RQ

5.0Reviewed Dec 13, 2020

Great Course. I love the way it is designed, delivered. I learned a lot. The most important part is that I enjoy every bit of the session and completed everything for less than a week. :)

AE

5.0Reviewed Oct 2, 2020

This is course is very helpful to me. The learning material is so easy to follow and the concepts are well explained by the instructor. He is very responsive to answer queries.

FJ

5.0Reviewed Feb 5, 2017

The videos were very clear on how to use various bioinformatic tools. I found no difficulty in understanding them. Really enjoyed the course. Looking forward to the next part of this course!

SB

5.0Reviewed Sep 26, 2020

The course content was very good and the arrangement of the course structure was very systematic. The delivery of the lecture and the videos were quite nice & understandable.

All reviews

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