Molecular Evolution (Bioinformatics IV)

The previous course in Specialization taught us how to compare genes and proteins. These methods can be used to create a "Tree of Life", which shows how many related organisms have changed over time.

The first half of this course will focus on evolutionary tree construction methods that have been the subject matter of some of the most highly cited scientific papers. It will also discuss how these approaches can be used to solve problems such as finding the source of a deadly virus or locating the birthplace for modern humans.

The second half of this course will focus on the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs. How do we prove this? We will be examining a result which claimed that peptides taken from a T.rex fossil closely matched those found in chickens. We will be using computational proteomics methods to determine if this result is true or false.

Finally, you'll learn how to use popular bioinformatics software to create an evolutionary tree of Ebolaviruses. This will allow you to identify the source of the Ebola outbreak that dominated the news media.