A cost-free CURE: using bioinformatics to identify DNA-binding factors at a specific genomic locus

A cost-free CURE: using bioinformatics to identify DNA-binding factors at a specific genomic locus

Blog Article

ABSTRACTResearch experiences provide diverse benefits for undergraduates.Many academic institutions have adopted persol 3195 course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) to improve student access to research opportunities.However, potential instructors of a CURE might still face financial or practical hurdles that prevent implementation.Bioinformatics research offers an alternative that is free, safe, compatible with remote learning, and may be more accessible for students with disabilities.Here, we describe a bioinformatics CURE that leverages publicly available datasets to discover novel proteins that target an instructor-determined genomic locus of interest.

We use the free, user-friendly bioinformatics platform Galaxy to map ChIP-seq datasets to a genome, which removes the computing burden from students.Both faculty and students directly benefit from this CURE, as faculty can perform candidate curash water wipes 6x80 screens and publish CURE results.Students gain not only basic bioinformatics knowledge, but also transferable skills, including scientific communication, database navigation, and primary literature experience.The CURE is flexible and can be expanded to analyze different types of high-throughput data or to investigate different genomic loci in any species.