Bio21: Teaching Biology with Bioinformatics


October 17-18th, 2003 Chapel Hill, North Carolina

As the need to work with large quantities of data grows, it is imperative that biologists become better data analysts, learn to define new experimental requirements, and become more critical consumers of software and bioinformatics tools. We propose to bridge the technology gap by encouraging biology faculty to incorporate bioinformatics experiments in all biology courses and to begin a dialog about what bioinformatics really is and how it should be included in, and change, the undergraduate biology curriculum. The first Bio21 conference was held October 17-18th, 2003, at the Sun Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Our goals for this conference were two-fold. The first goal was to build a knowledgeable team of educators interested in using bioinformatics activities in the classroom and create a directory of resource people for instructors in their area. The second goal was to begin discussions about the types of courses and curriculum that best prepare students for working in the multidisciplinary groups that will comprise much of twenty-first century biology. Presentation materials, instructional activities, and a directory, created from the Bio21 conference are now posted. We will continue adding materials from the conference as they become available. Look back for more information as the plans for the next Bio21 conference develop further.

Sponsors Funding for this project is provided by the National Science Foundation (DUE 0127599), Sun Microsystems, and Geospiza, Inc. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.