Got Rice? A Computational Biology Case Study Using the Rice Genome

The application of the technologies, techniques, and tools of computational science is an integral part of the research scientist’s toolbox. Computational biology, which includes the discipline of bioinformatics, is a critically relevant and important area of study given the Big Data era. Integrating computational biology, such as bioinformatics, in high school and undergraduate courses is therefore imperative to prepare students for biological college degrees and future research careers in academia, government, or industry. However, high school educators often lack relevant and comprehensible curricula to effectively implement computational biology in the classroom and expose students to vital computational skills. To address this pressing issue, science educators at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (Durham, NC, USA) developed an accessible curriculum, funded by the plant research organization Syngenta, comprising three activities designed to study the rice genome in a high school/undergraduate setting.