ACADEMIC TRAINING
LECTURE SERIES

27, 28 February 1, 2, 3 March 2006
from 11:00 to 12:00 - Auditorium, bldg. 500

Decoding the Genome

A special series of 5 lectures on:
Recent extraordinary advances in the life sciences arising through
new detection technologies and bioinformatics

The past five years have seen an extraordinary change in the information and tools available in the life sciences. The sequencing of the human genome, the discovery that we possess far fewer genes than foreseen, the measurement of the tiny changes in the genomes that differentiate us, the sequencing of the genomes of many pathogens that lead to diseases such as malaria are all examples of completely new information that is now available in the quest for improved healthcare.

New tools have allowed similar strides in the discovery of the associated protein structures, providing invaluable information for those searching for new drugs. New DNA microarray chips permit simultaneous measurement of the state of expression of tens of thousands of genes in our bodies, an enormous leap in our ability to diagnose the processes in our cells.

These tools and others are contributing to a 'data deluge' in the life sciences and informatics skills are essential both to manage and to unravel the data such that we can extract understanding. Experimentation 'in silico' is now complementing that 'in vitro' and 'in vivo', and increasing the demand for informatics skills.

Who should attend?

• Those interested in the extraordinary rate of discovery on the path from the genome to improved healthcare
  
• Those interested in understanding how these technologies are used to measure biological objects and processes that were impossible less that a decade ago
  
• Those interested in data management and new challenges in informatics
  
• Those with informatics skills interested in the possibilities of bioinformatics or systems biology
  

Five lectures over one week

The aim is to illustrate five different areas covering the following themes:

• extracting the fundamental genomic sequence from the DNA
  
• finding the genes in the genome and associating them with a particular disease
  
• using DNA microarrays as powerful detectors of the 'genes at work', and thereby determining the mechanisms that control our bodies and our health.
  
• measuring protein composition and protein 3-D structures, important information in the design of new drugs
  
• building models of biological processes from the information in the data, and using simulation to make further predictions
  

Lecturers

• C. Victor Jongeneel, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research & Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
  
• Olivier Michielin, University of Lausanne and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
  
• Arthur Thomas, Proteus Associates and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics
  
• Patrick Descombes, Dept. of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva
  
• Sam Deutsch, Dept. of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva
  

Organisers: C. Victor Jongeneel, SIB and Chris Jones, CERN