Michael Agostino received his PhD in molecular biology from Roswell Park, a division of SUNY at Buffalo, New York. He did genetic engineering laboratory research for 13 years before making the formal switch to bioinformatics, working at GlaxoSmithKline, Genetics Institute, and Pfizer for over 33 years. At those companies he worked with other scientists, providing sequence analysis support for projects too numerous to count. Michael is now an instructor for Harvard Extension School, where, for 10 years, he has been teaching a course largely based on this book.