Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
Introduction to Bioinformatics

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Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

Introduction to Bioinformatics

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • Synthesize multi-omics data to generate integrative biological insights.

  • Critically evaluate and refine computational algorithms including patient subtyping, cell classification, and relationship extraction.

  • Apply tools and techniques like language models, clustering and visualisation, to analyse and interpret complex biological and clinical datasets.

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Recently updated!

June 2025

Assessments

56 assignments

Taught in English

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There are 10 modules in this course

Discover the exciting field of Bioinformatics, focusing on its role in analysing biological data and its applications. Gain foundational knowledge of its interdisciplinary nature and importance in modern biology. Learn about unique methodologies and contributions of each subfield, essential data types, and best practices for data management.

What's included

15 videos7 readings6 assignments2 plugins

In this module, you will explore the fundamentals of molecular biology, focusing on the structure and function of nucleic acids, proteins, and other essential biomolecules. You will learn how DNA and RNA store, replicate, and express genetic information. We will cover transcription and translation, revealing how proteins are synthesised and function within the cell. Additionally, you will examine gene regulation, mutations, and the molecular basis of genetic variation and evolution. Understanding these principles is essential for analyzing and interpreting biological data using bioinformatics tools.

What's included

10 videos10 readings5 assignments2 plugins

In this module, you will explore crucial molecular biology concepts vital for bioinformatics. Create a comprehensive concept map to understand DNA replication and gene expression processes. Study DNA sequencing principles to learn methods for decoding genetic information, and examine gene structure and regulation in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Discover the central dogma of molecular biology, describing the flow of genetic information from DNA to RNA to protein. This module builds a solid foundation for applying computational tools in bioinformatics, enhancing your knowledge and skills in this fascinating field.

What's included

10 videos10 readings5 assignments2 plugins

This module teaches you how to leverage RNA sequencing data for patient subtyping. You will master the entire workflow, from raw data acquisition to grouping samples. Start with hands-on experience in extracting and normalizing RNA-seq data from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then, explore and apply two clustering approaches: Hierarchical Clustering and the Louvain Algorithm, to identify meaningful patient subtypes. Conclude by comparing the effectiveness of these clustering methods and learning survival analysis using Kaplan-Meier curves.

What's included

12 videos4 readings6 assignments1 plugin

In this module, you will explore machine learning applications for cell type classification using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. Learn the full workflow, from data acquisition and preprocessing to feature selection and classification algorithm implementation. Engage in hands-on exercises to build and evaluate models for accurate cell type identification, gaining practical insights into scRNA-seq data analysis for biological research.

What's included

10 videos4 readings6 assignments2 plugins

Explore gene-gene associations using methylation and mRNA data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Learn to process and analyze high-dimensional omics data, construct gene association networks, and handle real cancer datasets. Master normalization techniques, network construction methods, and visualizations to enhance your biological understanding through practical, hands-on experience.

What's included

12 videos4 readings6 assignments1 plugin

In this module, you will explore the core concepts and practical applications of gene enrichment and pathway analysis in biological research. Learn to analyse gene lists, understand Gene Ontology structures, and interpret biological pathways. Gain hands-on experience with industry-standard tools like DAVID and STRING to transform complex genomic data into meaningful insights. Emphasise understanding pathway networks and disease associations to prepare for real-world genomics research applications.

What's included

11 videos5 readings6 assignments2 plugins

Explore Natural Language Processing (NLP) with a focus on biomedical applications. Start with core NLP concepts and progress through essential libraries and preprocessing techniques for medical text data. Delve into specialised topics like Named Entity Recognition and pattern matching in clinical contexts. Learn about transformer architectures and their applications in biomedical text analysis. Gain hands-on experience with tools like BioBERT and NLTK to process, analyse, and extract insights from medical literature.

What's included

10 videos3 readings5 assignments1 plugin

Explore medical text mining and knowledge extraction in this module. Begin by examining the unique characteristics of medical text and PubMed data organization. Progress through medical ontologies and specialised language models like BioBERT for a solid text analysis foundation. Finally, extract and analyze complex medical relationships, including disease-symptom associations, drug interactions, and comorbidity patterns. Apply advanced NLP techniques to gain actionable insights from medical literature.

What's included

13 videos4 readings6 assignments1 plugin

In this module, you'll learn the essential knowledge and techniques for working with raw DNA data, including understanding its structure and organization, like SNP data. You'll dive into genetic distance metrics to identify genetic relationships between individuals and explore common distance calculation algorithms and DNA matching techniques. You'll also learn methods for statistically analyzing genetic match results and building a relationship prediction system. Finally, you'll explore visualization and network analysis approaches to gain deeper insights from DNA match data, create interactive chromosome-level visualizations, and use graph-theoretic methods to uncover complex familial relationships within the DNA match network.

What's included

11 videos5 readings5 assignments1 plugin

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Instructor

BITS Pilani Instructors Group
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani
1 Course25 learners

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