This course explores the significant role microorganisms play both in the biosphere and within our bodies, focusing on the tiny fraction that has been cultured and the vast majority that is studied through microbiome data. Understanding the genetic information of microorganisms opens up a window to their hidden world, allowing insights into the composition of microbial communities and their responses to environmental changes.

Through practical, real-world examples, learners will engage in typical analysis tasks such as comparing microbial diversity across different conditions, clustering samples, and identifying associations between microbes. The course instructors are experienced bioinformaticians renowned for their work on large-scale microbiome datasets.

At a Glance

• Institution: KULeuvenX
• Subject: Biology & Life Sciences
• Level: Intermediate
• Language: English
• Video Transcript: English

Prerequisites

• Basic knowledge of biology.
• Understanding of statistics and programming for specific sections.

• Techniques for collecting microbiome data.
• Methods to extract species and function counts from sequencing data.
• Understanding concepts like richness, evenness, and diversity in microbiomes.
• Approaches to compare diversity and microbial composition across different conditions.
• How to compute and interpret associations between different microbes and functions.

1. Module 0: Introduction to course resources, R programming basics, and support forums.
2. Module 1: Introduction to microbiome data, sequencing techniques, and data types.
3. Module 2: Processing sequences to counts, including quality control and assignment tasks.
4. Module 3: Methods to compare microbiomes, discussing abundance, richness, and diversity metrics.
5. Module 4: Ordination techniques for sample arrangement based on taxonomic and functional composition.
6. Module 5: Network construction for taxon/function associations.
7. Module 6: Resources and guidelines for conducting personal microbiome studies.
8. Module 7: Final exam, either through a quiz or a practical microbiome analysis project.

This course is designed for individuals with a background in biology, who are looking to deepen their understanding of microbiome data analysis. It is particularly useful for researchers, data analysts, and academicians in the fields of microbiology and bioinformatics.

Skills acquired from this course can be applied in various real-world contexts, such as academic research, pharmaceutical industries, and healthcare to better understand the role of microorganisms in health and disease, enhance disease diagnosis, guide treatments, and in the development of new therapeutic strategies. Additionally, these skills are essential for advancing personal and collaborative research projects.