Teaching

BIOS 090: First-Year Seminar, Human Genomes, Ancestry, and Health

Fall 2021

Scientists have now determined all 3.2 billion letters of the genomes of thousands of humans. What can we learn from all these genomic data, and how will these findings influence the future of medicine, technology, law, and our daily lives? In this class, we will discuss the content of and variation in human genomes, and how researchers use this variation to learn about human evolution and risk for disease. We will learn some quantitative techniques to analyze genomic data, and we will discuss ethical considerations and societal implications of sequencing human genomes.

BIOS 130: Biostatistics

Spring 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025

Biological research and applications generate and benefit from a wide variety of data, with types and features nearly as diverse as the forms of life on earth. Does the introduction of a new species impact the survival of a competitor that shares its range, and if so, to what extent? Are certain genes more highly expressed at one stage of development than another? Is a potential medical treatment effective against a particular disease, and if so, how effective? To answer critical questions such as these, biologists must use statistics that are suited to the types of data with which they are working and the questions they wish to answer. In this course, we will discuss how to describe and analyze data using probability and statistics, with examples drawn from biological research. We will explore several commonly used statistical techniques and learn how to apply them to real datasets, using a software tool that many biologists apply in their work. This course will provide a foundation for further work applying statistical analyses to biological data, and will foster an improved ability to interpret quantitative results from biological studies.

BIOS 343/443: Personal Genomics

Fall 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024

Students explore the methods and processes that have allowed us to learn so much about our genomes and what implications new genomic discoveries hold for fields like medicine and law. After completing this course, students are able to describe the makeup of the human genome, how human genomic diversity is distributed globally, methods for using genomic diversity to understand human evolution and disease risk, and the history of the study of human genetics. Through outreach projects of varying formats, students share what they have learned about personal genomics throughout the course to a non-scientific audience.

Page updated

Report abuse