Bioinformatics is the use of computers and statistics to make sense out of the huge mounds of data that are accumulating from high-throughput biological and chemical experiments, such as sequencing of whole gnomes, DNA microarray chips, two-hybrid experiments, and tandem mass spectrometry.

There are three different approaches to bioinformatics:

• Tool building. Creating new programs and methods for analyzing and organizing data.

• Tool using. Using existing programs and data to answer biologically interesting questions.

• Tool maintenance. Setting up databases, translating biologists? questions into ones that programs can answer, keeping the tools working and the databases up to date.

• The main goal of the degree is to prepare the students for graduate studies in bioinformatics. A secondary goal is to provide the students with very relevant bioinformatics skills that will be useful for Research and Development in the growing biotechnology industries.

The degree is jointly administered by the Department of Biology, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the School of Computer Science and Engineering. The program is housed in the School of Computer Science and Engineering.