Introduction
In the practical sessions for the Genomics Course you are presented with a problem scenerio and a number of resources. You will work in small groups during the 4 practical sessions allocated (and in your own time) to solve the problem and present your results. This web site will provide a starting point for this assignment, but it will not tell you step by step how to do it. The aim of organising the practical session in this way is for you to undertake active and independent learning.

On this site the theory of Problem Based Learning (PBL) is described and then the problem scenerio is presented.
To gain the most from these practicals IT IS ESSENTIAL that you understand what PBL is all about before you start on the assignment.

What is problem based learning?
In the process of problem based learning (PBL) you the students are given a problem before you have much knowledge of the subject. You have to engage with the problem and decide for yourselves what information and skills you need to solve it. This practical will involve a number of stages

• Understanding the problem
• Formulating the problem so you can solve it
• Acquiring knowledge in context
• Finding and integrating knowledge from different sources
• Providing feedback to other students in your group
• Reaching a conclusion
• Reflecting on how you solved the problem and what you have learned

The practical will be undertaken in small groups.Ideally groups should comprise 3-5 students. How you divide into groups is up to you. Give your group a name (printable suggestions only!) then get down to the task of solving the problem. There will be a member of faculty and demonstrators available during the designated sessions. These people are there to act as facilitators. They are not there to tell you how to solve the problem, they are there to answer more specific questions and to guide your group during your discussions. At the end of each practical session it may be appropriate to have a short summary session to ensure that groups are heading in the right direction.

Assignment
A research laboratory in your biotechnology company has sequenced a number of fragments of genomic DNA from patients attending a clinic. The sequences are contained within two separate files that can be accessed from Table 1. It is known that each sequence contains more than one gene from different chromosomal locations.

As the only team in the company with knowledge of bioinformatics it is your task to identify and characterise the genes and their products. The genes all have a common link to a "disease" state and it is your task to identify this link. Your final goal is to prepare a functional annotation of the genes and gene products for entry into an proprietory company database.

Table 1

File	Sequence
1	Click for genomic DNA sequence
2	Click for genomic DNA sequence

Assessment
This Genomics course is assessed through a 'finals' exam in the Summer and course work . The write up of this practical is part of the coursework. See the practical handout for details of how to write up this computer practical. Click for practical handout