Microbial genomics (primarily bacteria and bacteriophages) and genome-scale approaches to addressing questions in microbial physiology and pathogenesis are the focus of the course. Large-scale sequencing projects, genome structure and evolution, metagenomics, and other challenges in comparative genomics are discussed. Hands-on wet laboratory and bioinformatics projects are included in this laboratory-lecture course. Prereq: GEN 604, BMS 503 and BMS 504. Special fee.