MATH 431 Computational Methods in Biology
This course presents an overview of important applications of computers to solve problems in biology. It is intended for undergraduate students with good computer programming experience. Major topics covered are computational molecular biology (analysis of protein and nucleic acid sequences), biological modeling and simulation including computer models of population dynamics, biochemical kinetics, cell pathways, neuron behavior, and mutation, development of models of physiological systems using the compartmental framework, partial differentiation and Taylor series in one and two dimensions, together with second order linear constant coefficient differential equations. This final part of the course introduces techniques to analyse and interpret the �classical� models of theoretical ecology. The associated practical concentrates on the Lotka-Volterra models of predator-prey dynamics and competition and finish with an overview of computational phylogenetics.
Prerequisite
BMED 211
Corequisite
MATH 419
Offered
Fall