Georgia Institute of Technology College of Sciences

In this talk, we describe transforming a theoretical algorithm from structural graph theory into open-source software being actively used for real-world data analysis in computational biology. Specifically, we apply the r-dominating set algorithm for graph classes of bounded expansion in the setting of metagenome analysis. We discuss algorithmic improvements required for a practical implementation, alongside exciting preliminary biological results (on real data!). Finally, we include a brief retrospective on the collaboration process. No prior knowledge in metagenomics or structural graph theory is assumed. Based on joint work with T. Brown, D. Moritz, M. O’Brien, F. Reidl and T. Reiter.