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Programming in Python for bioinformatics — the algorithms, sequence alignment, and tools that modern biology depends on.
BIO 410 introduces the fundamentals of programming for bioinformatics using Python. The first weeks cover core data types, syntax, and functional programming, with a focus on constructing programs from small, testable parts — the way professional programmers actually work.
From there, the course develops the productive algorithms most useful in bioinformatics, covers object-oriented programming, introduces the analysis of algorithms and sequencing alignment methods, and surveys the bioinformatics tools that current biological research uses. The course is built for biology students who want to handle real data — and gives them the computational literacy contemporary biology assumes.
Offered 2026-2027: Fall Traditional.
Joel Brown
2026-2027: Fall Traditional
Program in Python
Write Python programs using core data types, syntax, and functional patterns.
Build Testable Programs
Construct programs from small, testable parts following good software practice.
Apply Bioinformatics Algorithms
Implement the algorithms most useful in bioinformatics work.
Perform Sequence Alignment
Apply sequence alignment methods to genomic and proteomic data.
Use Bioinformatics Tools
Navigate the standard tools contemporary biological research depends on.
A Biblical Worldview treats careful, honest computation as an extension of careful, honest scientific work. BIO 410 builds the computational literacy that modern biology assumes — equipping students to work with the volumes of biological data the field now produces.
BIO 410 brings programming and bioinformatics into ACU's biology curriculum. Explore the programs that include it.
