BioInformatics: Algorithms and Applications

By Prof. Michael Gromiha | IIT Madras

Learners enrolled: 2765 | Exam registration: 81

ABOUT THE COURSE : Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field of science for analyzing and interpreting vast biological data using computational techniques. In this course, we aim to give a walkthrough of the major aspects of bioinformatics such as the development of databases, computationally derived hypothesis, algorithms, and computer-aided drug design. During the first section of the course, we will focus on DNA and protein sequence databases and analysis, secondary structures and 3D structural analysis. The second section will be devoted to applications such as prediction of protein structure, folding rates, stability upon mutation, and intermolecular interactions. Further, we will cover computer-aided drug design using docking and QSAR studies. This course is designed to nurture skills and knowledge required for aspiring students, young biologists and research scholars to develop algorithms and tools in bioinformatics.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Students, PhD scholars, teachers, industry

PRE-REQUISITES: Basic knowledge of Biology and any computer language would be helpful

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Cognizant, TCS

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Biological Sciences & Bioengineering Computational Biology
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	20 Jan 2025
End Date :	11 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends :	27 Jan 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	14 Feb 2025
Exam Date :	26 Apr 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1  : Introduction, DNA sequence analysis, DNA Databases
Week 2  : Protein structure and function, protein sequence databases, sequence alignment
Week 3  : PAM matrix, Global and local alignment, BLAST: features and scores
Week 4  : Multiple sequence alignment, Conservation score, phylogenetic trees
Week 5 : Protein sequence analysis, hydrophobicity profiles, non-redundant datasets
Week 6  : Protein secondary structures, Ramachandran plot, propensity, secondary structure prediction
Week 7  : Protein tertiary structure, Protein Data Bank, visualization tools, structural classification, contact maps
Week 8  : Protein structural analysis, protein structure prediction
Week 9  : Protein stability, energetic contributions, database, stabilizing residues, stability upon mutations
Week 10 : Protein folding rates, proteins interactions, binding site residues
Week 11  : Computer aided drug design, docking, screening, QSAR
Week 12 : Development of algorithms, awk programming, machine learning techniques, applications using WEKA

Books and references

• M. Michael Gromiha, Protein Bioinformatics: From Sequence to Function, Academic Press, 2010
• D.E. Krane and M.L. Raymer, Fundamental concepts of bioinformatics, Pearson Education Inc. 2006

Instructor bio

Prof. Michael Gromiha

IIT Madras

M Michael Gromiha received his PhD from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India, and served as a STA fellow, RIKEN researcher, Research scientist, and Senior scientist at the Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan till 2010. Currently, he is working as a Professor at the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, India. He is teaching courses on bioinformatics, protein structure and function, protein interactions: computational techniques, big data analysis and handling computational biology lab. His main research interests include sequence and structural analysis, prediction, folding, and stability of globular and membrane proteins, protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid and protein-ligand interactions, development of bioinformatics databases and tools, structure-based drug design and next generation sequence analysis.

He has published more than 300 research articles, 70 reviews, nine editorials, and three books entitled “Protein Bioinformatics: From Sequence to Function”, “Protein Interactions: Computational methods, analysis and prediction” and “Protein mutations: consequences on structure, functions and diseases” by Elsevier/Academic Press and World Scientific, Singapore. His papers received more than 16,000 citations and his h-index is 63. He is an Associate Editor of BMC Bioinformatics, Bioinformatics and Biology Insights, Frontiers in Bioinformatics, and Bioinformatics Advances, Section Editor of Current Protein and Peptide Science as well as an Editorial board member of Scientific Reports, Biology Direct, Journal of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Genes and Current Computer Aided Drug Design.

He has received several awards including the Oxford University Press Bioinformatics prize, Okawa Science Foundation Research Grant, Young Scientist Travel awards from ISCB, JSPS, AMBO and ICTP, Best Paper Award at ICIC2011, ICTP Associateship Award, ICMR International Fellowship for Senior Biomedical Scientists, INSA Senior Scientist Award, Best Paper Award in Bioinformatics by the Department of Biotechnology, India, Institute Research and Development Award from IIT Madras, Outstanding Performance Award from Initiative for Parallel Bioinformatics (IPAB), Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, Tamilnadu Scientist Award (TANSA) from Tamilnadu State Council for Science and Technology, India and ASC Masila Vijaya Award for excellence in research and pubication from Chennai Academy of Sciences. He is ranked as one of the topmost 0.5% of highly cited researchers in the world for the past five years. He is an elected Fellow of Indian National Science Academy (FNA) and Academy of Sciences, Chennai.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 26, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.

Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team