By Nyalleng Moorosi
Leribe, Lesotho
Computer Science
Bioinformatics is the development of computational techniques to solve biological problems. An example of this kind of data is the DNA sequence of the approximately 30,000 human genes that make up the human genome. Examining this data provides many opportunities for building new data visualization tools, which is Professor Shoop's primary interest.
Through Macalester's various research opportunities, I've been able to explore my academic interests at a level uncommon for an undergraduate student. I have worked most closely with Biology Professor Libby Shoop. I am taking two classes from her and precepting her Introduction to Computing course. But the most rewarding part of my work has been outside of the classroom.
"This past summer, I wrote a system that allows different applications to exchange genomic information."
-Nyalleng Moorosi |
For the past three summers, I have worked with Professor Shoop on various research projects. In the beginning, I researched papers for her and then started writing code that would draw graphs for a paper she was getting ready to publish. I also tested software and helped complete a user manual. This past summer, I wrote a system that allows different applications to exchange genomic information. The project also became my senior capstone project.
I've also benefited from national conferences. During the summer Professor Shoop and I attended the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) and the Institute for Genomic Research conferences through a National Science Foundation grant that she was awarded. The most interesting aspect of both conferences was to see the different parts of bioinformatics. Most of our research has to do with visualization of genomic data.
It was good to see projects in which researchers were looking at finding and analyzing structures of proteins or the location of genes on chromosomes with computer programs and mathematical models used in gene prediction. I really enjoy learning about protein structure prediction because it's a mix of biology, chemistry and computer science.
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