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Bioinformatics

Using computers to store, search and analyze biological data such as DNA and protein sequences.Source: NHGRI

Step 1 of 7ReadingTechnology or method

How it works

Bioinformatics uses computers to make sense of huge amounts of biological data, such as DNA sequences.

Algorithms align sequences, search databases, find genes and predict protein structures. Public databases such as GenBank and UniProt make the data available to everyone.

Dynamic programming underlies exact alignment; heuristics such as BLAST make database search fast. Machine learning methods like AlphaFold now predict many protein structures accurately.

Used for
  • Genome analysis
  • Drug target discovery
  • Tracking pathogen evolution

Safety and ethics

Responsible data sharing must balance openness with privacy for human data.
See it in the Biotechnology lab

How Bioinformatics connects

Bioinformatics includes the example

  • Technology or method

    Sequence alignment

    Lining up DNA or protein sequences to find similarities. Dynamic programming finds the best global or local alignment.

Bioinformatics includes

  • Technology or method

    Biological databases

    Public archives such as GenBank for sequences, UniProt for proteins and the Protein Data Bank for structures.

Bioinformatics is used by

  • Idea or model

    Human genome

    The full DNA sequence of a human. Drafts were published in 2001, and the first gap-free sequence in 2022.

Bioinformatics is related to

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Sources & further reading

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