CS448 Senior Project

Department of Computer Science, New Mexico State University

Spring 2007 (Updated: 1/18/2007)

Objective

To apply programming skills in solving a real world application in computational biology, which integrates Boolean logic, graph representation and search, markup languages, and parallel computing.

Overview

In this capstone course, students will work together in teams of up to 3 students each to design a software package to create a gene regulatory network from temporal gene expression data under various perturbation. Students will also generate random Boolean networks to test their inference algorithms.

Prerequisites: senior standing and consent of instructor.

Course Information

Instructor: Joe Song, joemsong@cs.nmsu.edu, 505-646-4299, Office: SH 141, Office hours: MF 4:45pm-5:45pm.

Meeting time: Lecture–Room SH 113, MF 3:30pm-4:45pm; Lab–Room SH 118B F 1:30pm-3:20pm

Course web page: http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~joemsong/448

Important Dates

First class meets on ......................................................................... January 19, 2007

Last day to withdraw with “W” at NMSU ............................................. (Monday) March 12, 2007

No class (spring break) ................................ ................................ March 19 and 23, 2007

No class (spring day) ................................................................... (Friday) April 6, 2007

Final presentation .............................................. SH 124 3:30pm-5:30pm (Monday) May 7, 2007

Grading Policies

Homework (20%). Project (80%). Homework is due two weeks after posted. Late homework will not be accepted. No incomplete grades. Evaluation of team project will be conducted so that individuals contributions will be reflected in the final grade of each student. Thus, the grade can be different among students of the same group.

Topics

  1. Molecular biology basics
  2. Systems biology markup language
  3. Boolean networks
  4. Random generation of Boolean networks
  5. Simulation of Boolean networks
  6. Inference of Boolean networks from observed data
  7. Engineering of a Boolean network
  8. Parallelization using MPI
  9. Halobacteria gene expression data

Plagiarism and Code of Conduct

Please see the “Student Code of Conduct” in the current “Student Handbook.” (URL http://www.nmsu.edu/%7Evpsa/SCOC/misconduct.html) regarding academic misconduct and plagiarism. The penalty for plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct (as defined in the Student Code of Conduct) leads to failure of the course.

Non-Discrimination Policy

Feel free to call Jerry Nevarez, Director of Institutional Equity, at 505-646-3635 with any questions you may have about NMSU’s Non-Discrimination Policy and complaints of discrimination, including sexual harassment.

Students with Disabilities

Feel free to call Michael Armendariz, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities, at 505-646-6840 with any questions you may have on student issues related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All medical information will be treated confidentially.