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CMS Krieger-Nelson Lecture / Conférence Krieger-Nelson de la SMC

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PRISCILLA GREENWOOD, University of British Columbia
Random walk searches the Genome

Following the sequencing of the human genome announced last year, there is increased attention to the ``remaining'' problems, meaning essentially all questions about genome structure and function. Because genetic patterns are approximate, rather than exact, stochastic tools are appropriate to find and study them. In this talk I will describe how some familiar random structures facilitate the search for specific patterns in large genetic data banks. In particular I will explain how excursions of random walk are used to find approximately matching patterns. This is a fascinating emerging field which needs input from mathematicians.