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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Finding Hidden Messages in DNA (Bioinformatics I) by University of California San Diego

4.3
stars
994 ratings

About the Course

Named a top 50 MOOC of all time by Class Central! This course begins a series of classes illustrating the power of computing in modern biology. Please join us on the frontier of bioinformatics to look for hidden messages in DNA without ever needing to put on a lab coat. In the first half of the course, we investigate DNA replication, and ask the question, where in the genome does DNA replication begin? We will see that we can answer this question for many bacteria using only some straightforward algorithms to look for hidden messages in the genome. In the second half of the course, we examine a different biological question, when we ask which DNA patterns play the role of molecular clocks. The cells in your body manage to maintain a circadian rhythm, but how is this achieved on the level of DNA? Once again, we will see that by knowing which hidden messages to look for, we can start to understand the amazingly complex language of DNA. Perhaps surprisingly, we will apply randomized algorithms, which roll dice and flip coins in order to solve problems. Finally, you will get your hands dirty and apply existing software tools to find recurring biological motifs within genes that are responsible for helping Mycobacterium tuberculosis go "dormant" within a host for many years before causing an active infection....

Top reviews

JL

Jul 29, 2018

This course is very very good. Challenging at times. It does not hold your hand at all times and sometimes requires research to solve some of the problems, but I like the community and the approach.

DD

Sep 10, 2019

The material of the course is simply exquisitely presented. The concepts are clear, easy to grasp. You won't be a bioinformatician after doing this course, but you'll make the first step.

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201 - 225 of 249 Reviews for Finding Hidden Messages in DNA (Bioinformatics I)

By Nikhil Y

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Apr 19, 2020

it was an amazing course!!

By Meng Z

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Mar 4, 2019

The course is great!

By Raja A A

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Dec 16, 2023

Full of knowledge

By Shiyamaladevi R S 2

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Nov 4, 2021

.

By Todd T

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Nov 9, 2017

E

By Alejandro M H

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Apr 25, 2022

I liked this course more years ago, when I agreed without the possibility of having a certificate. Today I register it to have the certificate and I am surprised how much it has changed. Many videos were removed and you practically depend on reading the material on Stepik. Perhaps the biggest problem is the lack of clarity of the pseudocodes and the disaster of having to wait for someone to review your assignment to complete the course. It is unbelievable that in 2022 that will be a limitation to obtain the certificate.

By Evgeny T

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Feb 9, 2017

To be completely honest, I was expecting more from this course. One big setback is that the course material does not really go into biochemical fundamentals of what is going on, and instead jumps straight into algorithms. This might work for someone with enough background in biology who needs to learn to code. I, on the other side, have already had some exposure to software development and algorithms, but when Pavel mentions gene expression and transcription I have a very vague idea what he is talking about.

By Zhuoxi Y

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May 3, 2021

The difficulty of this course is not at all beginners from a biologist's perspective. The difficulty of this course increases drastically from week 1 to week 2. I kindly suggest that the course coordinator to review the content as some students have pointed out that there are certain errors here and there in the stepik tool's content. Another point is that certain terminology presented in stepik are quite poorly explained.

By Wesley R

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Oct 11, 2020

Course was easy to follow and the explanations made sense from the instructors about half the time. The other half, the coding sections and pseudocode would be horribly confusing. The sections about random motif finding and gibbs sampling were particularly frustrating. I would say some coding experience is necessary to do well in this course in a reasonable timeframe.

By Hugo A M A

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Jun 11, 2020

It´s too dificult. It says that this course is for beginners, and during the course they assume that we know Python or any other programming language. I passed the first week of bioinformatics 1, but I gave up with the second week. I recommend first doing the course "Biology meets programming".

By Hanna A

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Jun 17, 2021

Die Inhalte waren verständlich und gut strukturiert, jedoch braucht man Vorkenntnisse bezüglich des Programmierens, da dies nicht wirklich erklärt, aber für die Honors-Aufgaben vorausgesetzt werden. Der Pseudocode ist leider keine Hilfe dabei.

By Paula T I P

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Apr 19, 2020

You need an intermediate/advanced level in programming to be able to do the honours track, if you can't do it the course is completely useless because you can only read about how to code without being able to do the coding.

By Antonio H

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Apr 6, 2022

The course says that anyone can participate without knowing programming, but since the first module is necessary to use some language programming to complete the tasks; learn the biologic lessons is not enough.

By YG F

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Aug 20, 2021

I have to quit in w3. Algorithms are important in this field, but I failed to find the passion to solve these pure mathematical problems if they're already done by smart people.

By Osimhiarherhuo A

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Apr 28, 2020

An interesting course that i would have love to study but with no computer programming knowledge, studying this course has been very difficult and not encouraging

By Maria J E C

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Apr 4, 2023

It's hard to finish some tasks. There is no theoretical or practical basis in the resources to understand well some of the themes

By Zarif H

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Jul 29, 2020

I strongly suggest anyone who opts to attend this course to have solid python fundamentals (or Java, Javascript, C, etc).

By Sama A A

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Jul 1, 2020

Their is not enough explanation for the algorithms found in the video and code

By Mohammad M

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Oct 14, 2023

The course is lake of programming codes

By Aastha S

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Jul 19, 2020

Pseudo codes are not well explained

By Steven K

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May 14, 2020

The information presented in the course was very helpful; however, much of the presentation on Stepik was difficult to parse and required several reads through in order to understand what was being said. For some later explanations, I didn't understand the lesson until after I had created a working program. I also had to rely heavily on past user comments to clarify particularly difficult explanations.

The course was divided into a regular section and the "hacker track" honors section and only the latter of which requires programming. In theory, this means the course can be completed without knowing how to program since the final project doesn't require you to write code. In practice, the lessons seemed geared towards getting you to write working code. I think I would have been very hard-pressed to understand the course if I was not translating the lessons into working programs. I certainly would not have been able to get any good feedback on if I was doing it right since only programs were graded.

I have no plans at this point to continue the specialization. I want to learn more bioinformatics techniques, but I worry that the rest of the courses will be as frustrating as this one and so I will likely look elsewhere.

By Jonathon T

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Jul 27, 2018

Instructions are often not clear and require you to read the comments to even grasp what the problems are asking for. Also the format for teaching is to teach you a bad way to solve a problem then go "well that didn't work out, lets try a different way." I felt these were a waste of my time as I sat around trying to understand why I was being asked to solve a problem in such an inefficient manner.

By Ambar N

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Dec 18, 2020

Despite getting 100% in Week1 and Week2 quiz as well as passing Hacker's Track requirements, I got stuck in Week3 and could not proceed from there. The pseudocode for few of the algorithms is impossible to translate into workable code. And once you get stuck there's no help. Solutions are posted in comments but it's no use copying other learners' code to pass the course!

By Michael O S

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May 6, 2020

Childish, pandering to idiots. The comics are mediocre and the professors don't take anything seriously. I cannot fathom how anyone would understand the standards of professionalism required of someone working in the Bioinformatics industry through this lecture series.

Terrible. Absolutely terrible.

By SUCHANDRIMA D

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Aug 21, 2020

This course is not for beginners. Should have mentioned that one needs some understanding of a coding language to understand the text included. You will need to know how to write codes and apply them before staring this course.