Bioinformatics Minor

Bioinformatics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that studies the sequence, structure, and function of genes and proteins in living organisms. Bioinformatics requires knowledge and techniques from many disciplines, including biology and computer science. When dealing with an influx of raw information, significant amount of effort is spent on how to effectively and efficiently warehouse and access these data, and on new methods and algorithms aimed at mining this warehoused data in order to make novel discoveries in biology, medicine, and pharmaceuticals. Some examples of the topics are: genomics, proteomics, phylogenetics, functional genomics, algorithm and data analysis, microarray and gene expression, genomic medicine, biomarkers for cancer and disease, drug discovery and design for disease and disorders, database and data mining, network form and function, and ESL (ethical, societal, and legal) issues.

Because of the nature of the bioinformatics minor and the need to take courses in biology, chemistry, and computer science, this minor is geared toward students who will major in one of the following sciences: biology, general science, natural science, computer science, or information science. The minor generally requires a student to take an additional six courses (beyond their major). It is recommended that students declare a minor in bioinformatics early in their Fordham studies (ideally in the sophomore year).

The Bioinformatics minor is available to students at both Fordham College of Rose Hill and Fordham College at Lincoln Center. If you are interested in a minor in Bioinformatics, please contact Dr. Ruhul Amin, mamin17 ( at ) fordham.edu.

The basic curriculum for the minor is listed below. Please note that the minor generally requires only six courses (five for General Science majors) even though more than six courses are listed below. The reason is that many of the courses below can be counted as a requirement or elective toward one of the above majors. When you declare your minor, we will provide you with the list of courses you must take beyond your major.

View Requirements

Courses for the Bioinformatics Minor

Foundation: General knowledge in Biology, Computer Science, and Mathematical and Computational Reasoning

  • Biological Science I (BISC 1403/1413, NSCI 1403/1413 or equivalent)
  • Biological Science II (BISC 1404/1414, NSCI 1404/1414 or equivalent)
  • Computer Science (CISC 1600 or equivalent)
  • General Chemistry I (no lab) (CHEM 1321/NSCI 1413)
  • General Chemistry II (no lab) (CHEM 1322/NSCI 1414)
  • Discrete Structures (CISC 1400 or equivalent)
  • Applied Statistics (MATH 1205 or equivalent)

Introductory and Intermediate Knowledge

  • Biological Sciences
    • BISC 2539/49 (General Genetics with lab) or NSCI 3033 (Genetics with lab)
    • BISC 3752 or NSCI 4076 (Molecular Biology with lab) or BISC 3754 (Cell Biology) or NSCI 3054 (Cell and Developmental Biology)
  • Computer Science
    • CISC 2500 (Information and Data Management)
    • CISC 3500 (Database Systems)
    • CISC 4631 (Data Mining) or CISC 2850 (Computer and Data Analysis)

Capstone Knowledge

  • CISC 4020 Bioinformatics