The completion of the human genome project has provided biomedical researchers an unprecedented quantity of information. Bioinformatics uses computer algorithms to predict the function of genes, find relationships between different genes, and suggest research question for bench scientists to solve. Most laboratories within the School of Medicine make use of bioinformatics techniques. With experience in microbial genetics at the Center for Disease Control, Aileen Gonzales teaches introductory Bioinformatics to graduate students and assists other LLU researchers with advanced bioinformatic techniques.
While DNA and protein sequences are valuable resources for bioinformaticians, protein structure is better able to provide insights into the properties and functions of proteins. Computation techniques are applied within the laboratories of Dr. Neidigh and Dr. Sowers to predict the structure of proteins using similar proteins with known structure. These predictions are then experimentally tested advancing our understanding of a protein's role in human disease.
Researchers within the School of Medicine have access to the computational biology facility, which has the hardware and software tools necessary for bioinformatic analysis of sequence information, prediction of protein structure alone or in complex with other molecules, fundamental quantum mechanical calculations of small molecules, and more generic simulations for biological systems.
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Last Revised: Mon, Jun 12, 2006