Computational Genomics & Machine Learning

Alexander Turco

Graduate researcher focused on repetitive DNA architecture, genome instability, and large-scale sequencing analysis across haplotype-resolved assemblies.

View projectsCheck out my blog
Research focusrepetitive DNAgenome instabilitynon-B motifshaplotype assemblies
Alexander Turco

About me

Thanks for checking out my website! I wrote this website using react and tailwindcss as a means of bettering my Javascript skills while also finding a cool way to share some of the projects I have been involved in (because resumes are boring). I am currently a graduate student at the University of Toronto pursuing a PhD in Medical Biophysics. Since my first year of undergrad, I have been obsessed with studying the part of the genome that most often gets filtered out of genomics studies. My research has focused on low-complexity regions, tandem repeats, non-B DNA motifs, and transposable elements, and how we can better find and utilize these dark regions of the genome to better understand the blueprint of all life. If im not programming, you can also find me playing video games (currently Zelda Tears of the Kingdom), playing soccer, snowboarding, solving rubiks cubes, or travelling wherever I can go. Please feel free to connect with me about anything!

Skills

As fascinated as I am about biology, throughout my undergrad I began to develop an obsession with programming. As I started to teach myself more, I quickly recognized the potential programming has in so many different areas. Below are some languages I have experience in.

Python3

Python3

C++

C++

RStudio

RStudio

Shell

Shell

LaTeX

LaTeX

selected work

Projects

All biological projects I have worked on have a computational aspect to them. Feel free to take a look at the cool projects I have been fortunate enough to be involved with.

Investigating Harmful Algal Blooms in Ontario
Aug 2021PROJECT 01

Investigating Harmful Algal Blooms in Ontario

As a research assistant at McMaster University, I spent the summer exploring harmful algal bloom sites across Ontario. Under the supervision of Dr. Brian Golding and Dr. Herb Schellhorn, I conducted a metagenomic analysis of bloom and non-bloom sites using samples provided by the Ministry of Environment and Climate change. I examined the bacterial composition of samples, trimmed, merged, and assembled genomes of organisms known to contribute to the toxicity of blooms, and identified the potential for multiple strains of the same species to be present at a single bloom site. I created a poster to summarize some of the findings from this research. This poster was displayed at the MacWater (McMaster water group) challenges in water monitoring conference held on October 14 in Hamilton. Professors, graduate students, and those who work in industry could view and inquire about the poster and the work being done.

Open project
Cells at War: An immersive biological game
Dec 2022PROJECT 02

Cells at War: An immersive biological game

I worked with a group of biology undergraduate students in collaboration with a supervising professor towards the development of an innovative and immersive biological video game. The end goal of the project was to pilot and implement the game in some first year science classrooms at McMaster University. I had the opportunity to present a working build of the game to first year biology students and conduct a survey to collect data regarding how the students felt about the game. This was a cooperative project together with students and faculty from the Game Design program at George Brown College, as well as the Biology department at McMaster University. This project has been extended due to more funding and development is continuing, now with a larger team of collaborators across the globe. We hope to eventually create a hub of science-based games that students can play in place of reading a textbook or examining static images.

Open project
Undergraduate Thesis: Evolution of LCRs
Apr 2023PROJECT 03

Undergraduate Thesis: Evolution of LCRs

As a fourth year undergraduate thesis student, I worked in a bioinformatics lab under the supervision of Dr. Brian Golding. For my undergraduate thesis, I explored how to estimate evolutionary parameters such as mutation rates and indel rates using an analysis/approach called an approximate bayesian computation (ABC). This analysis is rooted in bayesian statistics and it essentially translates into an algorithm. Using C++, I developed my own version of this algorithm to estimate a small number of parameters that can describe how Low Complexity Regions evolve. Check it out on github by pressing the image above.

Open project
Investigating Sex Differences In Genetic Interactions across Human Cancers
Aug 2023PROJECT 04

Investigating Sex Differences In Genetic Interactions across Human Cancers

As a research assistant in the Computational Cancer Genomics lab at Princess Margaret Centre, I worked under the supervision of Dr. Sushant Kumar. My research project focused on exploring sex differences in synthetic lethal interactions in 12 types of human cancers. I analyzed RNA sequence data from healthy and tumor tissue samples, in order to find genes differentially expressed in tumor tissue. Using these genes found to be differentially expressed, I attempted to find synthetic lethal pairs that differed between males and females. The video above provides a short overview of my research.

Open project