Baltazar D. Aguda, PhD
Course Director/Lecturer

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Boston University,  Boston, MA  USA

BE700/BF600  Spring Semester 2004

Course Catalog Description

Regulatory and control processes in cells are presented from a genetic and        
biochemical network perspective.  Systems analysis of networks include
logical (Boolean), deterministic (differential equations), and stochastic
approaches.  Case studies of gene regulatory networks as well as metabolic,
signaling, cell survival, proliferation and death pathways are discussed.  
Existing modeling platforms of systems biology and bioinformatic pathways
databases are introduced.


Course Objectives

A primary goal of this course is to provide students with an integrated view of
the regulatory and control mechanisms in a biological cell at the genetic and
biochemical levels.  This integration is essential for students in engineering and
bioinformatics to appreciate the meaning and implications of the exploding
fields of genomics, proteomics and other high-throughput data-generating
technologies.  The systems viewpoint emphasized in this course requires a
sufficient overview of the molecular biology of the cell – a requirement that
will be carefully provided by the instructor.
        The instructor will emphasize basic and well-developed modeling tools
(mathematical and computational) for analyzing complex regulatory
networks in general, as well as identify research areas that are still open for
development.  After sufficient introduction of the various cellular processes
covered in this course, a case-study teaching approach (using examples from
the recent literature) will be adopted so that students are exposed to the details
and rigor of modeling complex systems.  An important goal of this course is to
make students aware of the existing and rapidly accumulating bioinformatics
and systems biology resources, as well as biotechnological trends.  Thus, an
important component of this course is a set of invited lectures given by active
researchers in the field.