title: Microarray simulator as educational tool.
abstract: As many real-world applications, microarray measurements are inapplicable for large-scale teaching purposes due to their laborious preparation process and expense. Fortunately, many phases of the array preparation process can be efficiently demonstrated by using a software simulator tool. Here we propose the use of microarray simulator as an aiding tool in teaching of computational biology. Three case studies on educational use of the simulator are presented, which demonstrate the effect of gene knock-out, synthetic time series, and effect of noise sources. We conclude that the simulator, used for teaching the principles of microarray measurement technology, proved to be a useful tool in education.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Signal Processing, Tampere University of Technology, P.O.Box 553, 33101 Tampere, Finland. pekka.ruusuvuori@tut.fi
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ruusuvuori
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nykter
authors.forename: Eeva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mäkiraatikka
authors.forename: Antti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lehmussola
authors.forename: Tomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Korpelainen
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Erkkilä
authors.forename: Olli
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yli-Harja
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D005387:Finland; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface