Making bioinformatics projects a meaningful experience in an undergraduate biotechnology or biomedical science programme

Bioinformatics has emerged as an important discipline within the biological sciences that allows scientists to decipher and manage the vast quantities of data (such as genome sequences) that are now available. Consequently, there is an obvious need to provide graduates in biosciences with generic, transferable skills in bioinformatics. We present here an example of how bioinformatics work can be developed, using bioinformatics tools freely available over the internet, to provide a challenging and worthwhile honours project experience for undergraduates undertaking degree programmes in biotechnology and biomedical sciences. We argue that this type of project work can provide an appropriate, stimulating alternative to bench-based (‘wet’) laboratory projects. Such projects develop skills that complement and extend traditional laboratory skills.