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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
How Do We Decipher DNA? Find Out at the Next Mathematics Colloquium Series Talk, Feb. 16
The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Math, Science, and Technology will open the Mathematics Colloquium Series for the winter 2011 semester with a talk titled “DNA Microarrays: Getting Meaning Out of a Huge Amount of Data.” Presented by Grady Campbell, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry in NSU’s College of Medical Sciences, the lecture will take place on Feb. 16 from 12 – 1 p.m. in the Mailman-Hollywood Building, room 310.
Microarray analysis involves imaging fluorescent sample RNA annealed to a microarray chip the size of a thumbnail, yielding tens of millions of pixels. A single experiment uses five to dozens of chips, amplifying the volume of data. Getting meaningful conclusions from such a mass of data is a difficult problem, and multiple efforts have resulted in variations on algorithms to analyze this raw data from each chip. Other layers of analysis then are utilized to gain meaning from the sum of the data from multiple chips. This talk will include a discussion on how a chip is used to measure quantities of RNA present in a sample, and how the data gathered from multiple chips can be integrated to find interesting information from such an immense amount of data.
The Mathematics Colloquium Series aims to increase awareness of mathematics’ importance and applications in daily life. These talks are free and open to the public.
For more information on this lecture or the college’s Mathematics Colloquium Series, contact Vehbi Paksoy, Ph.D., or Iuliana Stanculescu, Ph.D.