Author: Dr. Javier Resano

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Abstract

Here, students learn that the comparison of DNA sequences is important to a wide variety of applications in medicine and biology, including the analyses of ecosystem biodiversity, cancer mutations and the evolution of viruses. The students learn that specialized yet inexpensive digital hardware based on field programmable gate arrays can help speed the analysis of DNA sequences. They design and test a simple implementation of the Smith-Waterman algorithm that is broadly used for DNA sequence comparisons. In the process, they learn about computational platforms, digital logic, and a divide-and-conquer approach to design.

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