November 3, 1998
Contact: Tim Stephens (831) 459-2495

UCSC Extension hosts biomolecular engineering lectures

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Leaders in the growing field of bioinformatics will discuss new developments and future directions for research in biomolecular engineering on Friday, November 13, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Extension facility in Santa Clara.

David Haussler, professor of computer science at UCSC, will discuss the new role of bioinformatics in molecular biology and health sciences. Haussler heads a bioinformatics research group at UCSC. He will be joined by Roger Brent, associate director of the Molecular Sciences Institute (MSI) in Berkeley. MSI is a nonprofit academic research institute devoted to research on biomolecular and computational techniques to enable prediction of the behaviors of biological systems.

The rapid pace of basic research in molecular biology, including advances in gene sequencing, is having a tremendous impact in the areas of drug development, clinical diagnostics, and other applications. But molecular biologists are beginning to struggle with the huge amounts of raw data flowing out of DNA sequencing efforts such as the human genome project. These enormous sets of data do not readily yield useful information.

The interdisciplinary field of bioinformatics has emerged to create computational tools that can extract critical information locked in these massive datasets, Haussler said. "Recently developed statistical techniques will play a vital role in developing tools to understand the genome," he said.

The presentation by Haussler and Brent is part of a series of lectures on emerging technologies organized by UCSC's Jack Baskin School of Engineering. The lectures provide an opportunity for people in the computer and biotechnology industries to learn about cutting-edge research at UCSC.

The UCSC Santa Clara Extension Facility is located at 3120 De la Cruz Blvd. From Hwy. 101, take the Trimble Road exit, turn left onto De la Cruz, then turn left into the Oxford Business Park. For more information, call the School of Engineering at (831) 459-2158.

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