Outreach opportunity for BCB students:  Road Less Traveled

Valeria Velasquez Zapata directs the Outreach Division of the BCB-GSO.  She sent an invitation to the BCB Graduate Students to participate in the upcoming Oct. 19 and Nov. 2nd  Road Less Traveled events. It is a program put on by the University for 6th-8th graders to let them explore science. More information can be found here :

https://www.wise.iastate.edu/outreach/taking-the-road-less-traveled-career-conference-

BCB will host a session that BCBGSO is calling: "Cracking the Human Code". Here is a wonderful description put together by Carla Mann.

"Cracking the Human Code"

Have you ever wondered what goes into sequencing a genome, how scientists can tell which species are closely related, or what "big data" is, exactly? Learn through hands-on activities the answers to these questions and more, and how bioinformaticians bridge the gap between computer science and biology to solve some of the biggest problems facing the scientific community today."

During this 45 min session we usually give a brief run down about what bioinformatics is and what we can do with it and then have 3-4 activities.

1. Euler paths & Hamiltonian cycles - teaching them about the patterns and the theories to determine if they exists.

2. Sequence alignment - what the genome is and why does it matter. We give them chopped up sentences that they try to align as a small group (like read alignment)

3. Phylogenetics - what phylogenetics is and why it matters. quick guessing game which animals are most related.

The first session is on October 19th from 9:50 to 10:35, and the second on November 2nd at the same time (lunch provided).  BCB students who are interested in participating in this activity should let Valeria know as soon as possible so a meeting can be arranged to discuss what is usually done and incorporate new ideas.