Rosalind

Rosalind, http://rosalind.info, is a project to teach and expand Bioinformatics.

I started this path in July 2013. 

It starts by teaching Python 2.x.  Python 2.x and 3.x can co-exist on Win7 but which ever is installed last will be associated with the .py extension.  While Python 3.x is the future, Python 2.x is today.  The tools Rosalind introduces are for Python 2.7, including BioPython.

After "Python Village" there are two paths: "Bioinformatics Stronghold" and "Bioinformatics Armory".  If you are new to the subject matter, like me, take the Stronghold path.  This will teach you the lay of the land.  The first problem is the same as "Introduction to the Bioinformatics Armory".  I learned the hard way to save my code.  I'm building a library as I go now.  The number of people solving a problem is a good indication of simplicity or newness.

 The first problem in the Armory path is "Introduction to the Bioinformatics Armory".  It was quite simple.  As of this writing it says it has been solved by 485 people but I am #481 on the list and I'm at the top, meaning most recent.  The second "Problem" I chose has introduced me to the National Center for Biotechnology Information and The Universal Protein Resource (UniProt) database.  I'm pretty sure the "Computational Molecular Evolution" class will mention these as well.

The "Bioinformatics Stronghold" moves pretty quickly.  My fourth problem requires me to load named sequences using the FASTA file format.  It appears to be one of the most common file formats in bioinformatics.  I first heard of this format last week in my "Computational Molecular Evolution" class.  That class also introduced the PAUP/NEXUS file format. 

Here at the end of July I've completed my 32nd problem.  I haven't been as active as I wanted to be the last couple of weeks.

I've learned quite a bit in 32 simple problems.  I didn't even notice how much I've learned.  Still I have a long ways to go.  I haven't touched much on epigenetics, the control of gene expression outside changes in the DNA sequence.  I've learned about codons, introns, and exons but not how introns are selected for exclusion in the production of mRNA.  That must be coming soon.