Department of Bioinformatics

Computational Laboratory and Open-Access Bioinformatics Software

The Department of Bioinformatics has a well-equipped Computational Laboratory consisting of 15 networked desktop computers with high-speed broadband Internet and Wi-Fi connectivity, enabling students to access international biological databases, cloud-based computational resources, and online learning platforms. The laboratory provides hands-on training in sequence analysis, structural bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics, phylogenetics, molecular docking, and computational biology using modern open-access and open-source bioinformatics software.

Students are trained using a wide range of freely available software and web servers, including:

• NCBI BLAST – DNA and protein sequence similarity searching
• Clustal Omega and MUSCLE – Multiple sequence alignment
• MEGA 11 – Phylogenetic and evolutionary analysis
• UGENE – Integrated sequence analysis and molecular biology toolkit
• Jalview – Multiple sequence alignment visualization
• Galaxy Project – Web-based platform for genomics and transcriptomics analysis
• Bioconductor (R) – Statistical analysis of genomic and transcriptomic data
• Biopython – Python library for computational biology
• PyMOL (Open Source) – Three-dimensional visualization of proteins and nucleic acids
• UCSF ChimeraX – Advanced molecular visualization and structural analysis
• AutoDock Vina – Protein–ligand molecular docking
• GROMACS – Molecular dynamics simulations
• IQ-TREE – Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis
• FastQC – Quality assessment of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data
• HISAT2 – Fast alignment of genomic and transcriptomic sequences
• SAMtools – Processing and analysis of sequencing alignment data
• IGV (Integrative Genomics Viewer) – Interactive visualization of genomic datasets
• Nextflow – Reproducible bioinformatics workflow management
• RStudio and Python (Anaconda, Jupyter Notebook) – Statistical computing, machine learning, and bioinformatics programming.

Wet Laboratory

The department also maintains a Wet Laboratory dedicated to practical training in Microbiology and Molecular Biology. Students perform experiments on microbial culture techniques, sterilization, staining methods, biochemical characterization, DNA and RNA isolation, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), agarose gel electrophoresis, plasmid isolation, protein estimation, and other molecular biology techniques. The laboratory is equipped with essential instruments such as PCR Thermal Cycler, Laminar Air Flow Cabinet, Autoclave, Incubator, Centrifuge, UV-Visible Spectrophotometer, Microscopes, Hot Air Oven, Water Bath, Electrophoresis Unit, Micropipettes, pH Meter, and other laboratory equipment required for undergraduate and postgraduate practical training.

The integration of modern computational resources with experimental laboratory facilities enables students to acquire interdisciplinary skills in genomics, proteomics, molecular biology, microbiology, structural bioinformatics, drug discovery, data analysis, and computational biology, preparing them for higher education, research, and careers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and life sciences.