Featured Links
Master in Bioinformatics, Animal Sciences concentration
Bioinformatics is at the cross roads of experimental and theoretical science and includes biological fields as diverse as biological modeling, statistical genetics and genomics, molecular evolution, and systems biology. Bioinformatics has immediate applications in the animal and agricultural sciences. These applications include understanding the molecular basis of biological phenomena related to animals and associated microbes, and their impact in animal improvement. Bioinformatics is a truly interdisciplinary field that is always changing. Much like biotechnology and genomics, bioinformatics is moving from applied to basic science, from developing tools to developing hypotheses.
The M.S. in Bioinformatics Animal Sciences concentration provides advanced training in aspects of bioinformatics that pertain to the dynamic and complex behavior of biomolecular systems in interaction with biotic and abiotic environments. This will prepare students for employment in research laboratories in academia, government and the private sector, especially those with a biotechnology, pharmaceutical, agrochemical and agrobiological focus. The Animal Sciences concentration ensures that molecular biology and biotechnological principles as well as more traditional fundamentals (genetics, breeding, population biology, quantitative genetics, statistical genomics, systems approaches, etc.) are adequately covered in the M.S. degree, together with training in computer sciences and bioinformatics. This comprehensive training satisfies the specific demands of a degree based on the agricultural and life sciences.
Numerous research initiatives in the Department of Animal Sciences and the College of ACES are generating large quantities of complex biology data that require the integration of expertise in computer and life science. Likewise, the private industry partners and federal agencies have described their demand for a highly qualified workforce in ag-informatics, computer and biology sciences. The US Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have ongoing intramural and extramural bioinformatics programs and the key role of bioinformatics at NIH resulted in the creation of the Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative in 2000. In addition, the Department of Animal Sciences and the College of ACES have close physical and scientific relationships to leading campus-wide Genomics, Proteomics and Biotechnology efforts, namely the Institute for Genomic Biology, the W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics, and the UIUC Biotechnology Center.
Graduates of the M.S. in Bioinformatics Animal Sciences concentration will have the theoretical basis and experience to apply their skills towards doctoral programs, and academic, industry and government positions.