Bioinformatics in the Classroom

Online Resources


Wolbachia genome
  • About NCBI. About NCBI explains NCBI's role in facilitating research and education specific to the "fundamental molecular and genetic processes that control health and disease." An... (more info)
  • BLAST for Beginners. This interactive tutorial is designed as a quick introduction to the BLAST family of sequence analysis programs. These slides show a progression of steps in... (more info)
  • BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium. Engages in the collaborative development of curricula and actively supports educators interested in the reform of undergraduate biology. The pedagogical approach of... ( This site may be offline. )
  • Bioinformatics. This project is a series of interrelated modules designed to introduce the student to modern biological techniques in the area of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics is the... (more info)
  • Bioinformatics in the Biology Classroom. This educational journal article addresses the implementation of bioinformatics in the classroom. The author explains how bioinformatics could play a key role... ( This site is likely no longer available. )
  • Making Connections Between Genes and Diseases. This well-developed high school activity asks students to apply previously learned knowledge about chromosomes, DNA, RNA, genes, genome, DNA, transcription, translation... (more info)
  • NCBI More Information: Similarity. This page summarizes the basic concept and vocabulary of sequence similarity searching. It is included for those new to the field who may not appreciate the importance of... (more info)
  • NCBI: Education. This Web site from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) offers a set of detailed tutorials to help users make full use of NCBI's bioinformatics tools... (more info)

The following resources were originally accessed through the BioSciEd Net ( This site may be offline. ) (BEN) digital resources collection, which is the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Pathway for biological sciences education. For more teaching resources, please visit BEN to use their searchable database. BEN is free to use, but requires registration.
  • The Human Genome Project: Exploring Our Molecular Selves: This page allows you to download all of the component parts that make up the award winning educational CD for The Human Genome Project.
  • Species: Comparing their Genome: The Action Bioscience journal article illustrates how mapping the genome of different species reveals that: all living things share parallel genes, the genome of other species can be used for human disease research, many diseases are caused by defective genes or proteins, and so far, the mouse offers the best insight into human disease.
  • Using Bioinformatics in the Undergraduate Classroom: From the pages of magazine, the online version of BEN's education column in BioScience provides educators with updates in science education, examples of successful initiatives to transform biology teaching, and new ways of improving student understanding.

More Information


For more information about Bioinformatics, search the Microbial Life collection.

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