Chapter 1
DNA Sequencing Data Analysis
Keyi Long, Lei Cai, and Lin He
Abstract
Among various biological data, DNA sequence is doubtlessly a fundamental datum. By obtaining particular
DNA sequence data and analyzing, biologists get to understand life science more precisely. This chapter is
an overview of DNA sequencing technology and its data analysis methods, providing information about
DNA sequencing, several different methods, and tools applied in data analysis. Both advantages and
disadvantages are discussed.
KeywordsDNA sequence, DNA sequencing, Data analysis, Sequence comparison, Methods and
tools1 DNA Sequencing
Three essential elements of life science are DNA, RNA, and protein;
they lay the foundation of all living creatures. Millions of scientists
make joint efforts to understand the mystery of life, and tons of
work have been done to figure out relations between structures and
their properties.
For molecular biologists, information encoded in the
sequences of nucleic acid molecules is of vital importance since it
not only passes the genetic information from generation to genera-
tion but also influences function by transcription and translation.
Research at the frontiers of life science cannot be done without
obtaining and analyzing certain DNA sequences, which means
determining the particular order and number of the four bases—
adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine—in a strand of DNA.
Advances in recombinant DNA technology have allowed the isola-
tion of large numbers of biologically interesting fragments of
DNA [1].1.1 Methods of DNA
Sequencing
With the help of restriction endonucleases, large DNA molecules
can be cut into small fragments in an orderly fashion. Also, recom-
binant DNA techniques aid in purifying and characterizingTao Huang (ed.),Computational Systems Biology: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 1754,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7717-8_1,©Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
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