Sequence and Consequence

It is widely agreed that giving students a chance to do research is the ideal way to excite them about science. Bringing bioinformatics into undergraduate life sciences courses is one way to provide opportunities to large numbers of students to explore real data. Genomics offers a new approach to teaching foundational concepts and can be used to show how bioinformatic algorithms are mathematical articulations of biological principles. As we advance toward an age of genomic medicine, a looming challenge is to increase understanding and appreciation of the life sciences among all students and, more broadly, to find new opportunities for developing critical thinking skills. Can a common ground on which to build these skills across the undergraduate curriculum be found? A historical perspective suggests that the humanities and sciences often have similar preoccupations. Examining these connections/coincidences can be a means for circulating scientific concepts among nonscientists; for life sciences students, this offers an opportunity to pause and consider the various forces that influence the structure of scientific knowledge.