More advanced treatment of biochemical mechanisms that underlie biological processes. Emphasis on experimental methods used to unravel these processes, and how these processes fit into the cellular context and coordinate regulation of these processes. Topics include macromolecular machines for energy and force transduction, regulation of biosynthetic and degradative pathways, and structure and function of nucleic acids.

Introduction to computational biology including the fundamentals of protein and nucleic acid sequence analysis, phylogenetic analysis, motif finding, hidden Markov models, and 3D structure prediction and modeling. An overview of emerging fields including expression profiling, quantitative image analysis and the modeling of cellular signal transduction networks are also included. Subject designed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students with strong backgrounds in either molecular biology or computer science but not necessarily both. Two self-study tracks are offered, introducing either basic statistical methods and programming (to biologists) or the fundamentals of molecular biology (to computer scientists). Lectures combine both perspectives to illustrate how computation is having a significant impact on modern biology. Serving as an introduction to computational biology, this course emphasizes the fundamentals of nucleic acid and protein sequence analysis, structural analysis, and the analysis of complex biological systems. The principles and methods used for sequence alignment, motif finding, structural modeling, structure prediction, and network modeling are covered. Students are also exposed to currently emerging research areas in the fields of computational and systems biology.

A molecular approach to biology must develop in students an understanding of molecules, their interactions and the consequences of these interactions. Biological phenomenon now more than ever rely on chemical and physical principles for molecular explanations of the phenomenon. We have selected 10 physical-chemical principles that underlie many biological processes: we call them "Molecular Stepping Stones." Below are links to entry level model-based activities for the Stepping Stones.

This module introduces students to the problem of Protein Folding, its importance, and current computational methods used to attack its complexity.

Seminar covering topics of current interest in biology. Includes reading and analysis of research papers and student presentations. Contact Biology Education Office for topics. This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. The instructor for this course, Dr. Kosinski-Collins, is a member of the HHMI Education Group. Maintenance of the complex three-dimensional structure adopted by a protein in the cell is vital for function. Oftentimes, as a consequence of environmental stress, genetic mutation, and/or infection, the folded structure of a protein gets altered and multiple proteins stick and fall out of solution in a process known as aggregation. In many protein aggregation diseases, incorrectly folded proteins self-associate, forming fiber-like aggregates that cause brain cell death and dementia. In this course, the molecular and biochemical basis of the prion diseases, which include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), Creutzfedt-Jakob disease and kuru will be examined. Also discussed are other classes of misfolding diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. The proteins involved in all of these disorders and how the proteins' three dimensional structures change during the course of these afflictions is covered as well as why prions from certain species cannot infect animals from other species based on protein sequence and structure. The course will then address possible detection methods and therapies that are under development to treat some of the protein aggregation diseases.

This is a brief introduction to the protein folding problem and methods for protein Secondary structure prediction. The "Folding@home" project, Stanford University, is used as an example of one approach to studying the protein folding problem. Various s

Subject assesses the relationships between sequence, structure, and function in complex biological networks as well as progress in realistic modeling of quantitative, comprehensive functional-genomics analyses. Topics include: algorithmic, statistical, database, and simulation approaches; and practical applications to biotechnology, drug discovery, and genetic engineering. Future opportunities and current limitations critically assessed. Problem sets and project emphasize creative, hands-on analyses using these concepts.

A survey of problems at the interface of statistical physics and modern biology: Bioinformatic methods for extracting information content of DNA; gene finding, sequence comparison, phylogenetic trees. Physical interactions responsible for structure of biopolymers; DNA double helix, secondary structure of RNA, elements of protein folding. Considerations of force, motion, and packaging; protein motors, membranes. Collective behavior of biological elements; cellular networks, neural networks, and evolution.