Microbiology and Immunology

WORLD OF MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY Bioinformatics and computational biology

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BIOINFORMATICS AND COMPUTATIONAL

BIOLOGYBioinformatics and computational biology

Bioinformatics, or computational biology, refers to the devel-

opment of new database methods to store genomic informa-

tion, computational software programs, and methods to

extract, process, and evaluate this information; it also refers to

the refinement of existing techniques to acquire the genomic

data. Finding genes and determining their function, predicting

the structure of proteins and RNAsequences from the avail-

able DNAsequence, and determining the evolutionary rela-

tionship of proteins and DNA sequences are also part of

bioinformatics.

The genome sequences of some bacteria, yeast, a nem-

atode, the fruit fly Drosophilaand several plants have been

obtained during the past decade, with many more sequences

nearing completion. During the year 2000, the sequencing of

the human genome was completed. In addition to this accu-

mulation of nucleotide sequence data, elucidation of the

three-dimensional structure of proteins coded for by the

genes has been accelerating. The result is a vast ever-increas-

ing amount of databases and genetic information The effi-

cient and productive use of this information requires the

specialized computational techniques and software.

Bioinformatics has developed and grown from the need to

extract and analyze the reams of information pertaining to

genomic information like nucleotide sequences and protein

structure.

Bioinformatics utilizes statistical analysis, stepwise

computational analysis and database management tools in

order to search databases of DNA or protein sequences to fil-

ter out background from useful data and enable comparison of

data from diverse databases. This sort of analysis is on-going.

The exploding number of databases, and the various experi-

mental methods used to acquire the data, can make compar-

isons tedious to achieve. However, the benefits can be

enormous. The immense size and network of biological data-

bases provides a resource to answer biological questions about

mapping, gene expression patterns, molecular modeling,

molecular evolution, and to assist in the structural-based

design of therapeutic drugs.

Obtaining information is a multi-step process.

Databases are examined, or browsed, by posing complex com-

putational questions. Researchers who have derived a DNA or

protein sequence can submit the sequence to public reposito-

ries of such information to see if there is a match or similarity

with their sequence. If so, further analysis may reveal a puta-

tive structure for the protein coded for by the sequence as well

as a putative function for that protein. Four primary databases,

those containing one type of information (only DNA sequence

Under the proper conditions, physical phenomena such as lightning are capable of providing the energy needed for atoms and molecules to

assemble into the fundamental building blocks of life.

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