Integer Linear Programming in Computational and Systems Biology

Webinar Summary

Integer linear programming is increasingly being used in computational biology in non-traditional ways: to model biological phenomena, to analyze biological data, and to extract biological insight from the models and the data. Best-of-breed ILP solvers have proven to be effective in tackling problem instances of importance in biology, thereby opening up huge opportunities in this area. However, there are challenges in effectively using these tools for biological problems.

In this webinar recording, we explore the use of integer programming in computational biology and explain how it differs from traditional uses of integer programming. This will be illustrated through the particular problem of predicting the two-dimensional folding of RNA molecules. It’s important to note that attendees are not required to have a biological background – as all key concepts will be introduced and explained during the webinar.

In the webinar, we discuss:

• The basic model and problem of RNA folding, and how it is implemented and solved as an integer linear program./li>
• Simple biological extensions of the basic RNA folding model and how they are modeled and solved using integer linear programming.
• Two challenging extensions of the model, base-stacking and pseudo-knots, and how these are modeled and solved using integer linear programming.

Presented Materials

You can download the slides presented in this webinar here.