Fort Valley State University

Many Americans have heard of cloning, DNA testing, or genetic modification of foods to grow healthier crops. But few know that these fields are part of a revolutionary science called bioinformatics. The field of bioinformatics uses computers to analyze biological data. Fort Valley State University is keeping up with this cutting edge research and the Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science will hold their first bioinformatics workshop next month. The two-day meeting takes place Wednesday and Thursday, July 16 and 17, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the CTM building, room 321. Steven M. Thompson from Florida State University’s School of Computational Sciences will demonstrate how to convert biological data into useful information through the industry-standard GCG software.

“We’re going to train faculty members to apply concepts and analyze data using Genetics Computer Group Software. It’s an integrated software suite package used to access, manipulate and analyze nucleotide and protein sequences,” said Dr. Ramana Gosukonda, principle investigator for the bioinformatics laboratory. “There are 24 slots available so we are encouraging interested members in the university community to register now.”

Lunch and snacks will be served during the workshop. For more information contact Gosukonda at (478) 825-6836 or e-mail gosukonr@fvsu.edu, or Dr. Sanjeev Arora at aroras@fvsu.edu.