Sequence analysis

Sequence analysis is the application of Information Technologies to Molecular Biology. It deals with biological sequences, and processes them to extract significant information that may yield new insights and guidelines in the understanding of biological organisms
Basics for sequence analysis

Proteins

A protein is typically built of a series of basic blocks called amino acids , chained together in a linear sequence of blocks. Amino acids may come in a variety of shapes and properties: they may be small or bulky, hidrophobic or hidrophyllic, electrically charged or neutral, etc... hence allowing for very complex shapes and interactions to be produced.

Amino acids are commonly referred to by name or by an abbreviation, usually in three or one letter. This allows for more efficient descriptions of how they are chained together to build a protein:
Neutral-Nonpolar
3-letter
1-letter
Glycine
Gly
G
L-Alanine
Ala
A
L-Valine
Val
V
L-Isoleucine
Ile
I
L-Leucine
Leu
L
L-Phenylalanine
Phe
F
L-Proline
Pro
P
L-Methionine
Met
M
Neutral-Polar
 
 
L-Serine
Ser
S
L-Threonine
Thr
T
L-Tyrosine
Tyr
Y
L-Tryptophan
Trp
W
L-Asparagine
Asn
N
L-Glutamine
Gln
Q
L-Cysteine
Cys
C
Acidic
 
 
L-Aspartic
Asp
D
L-Glutamic
Glu
E
Basic
 
 
L-Lysine
Lys
K
L-Arginine
Arg
R
L-Histidine
His
H

What is Bioinformatics..?

Bioinformatics derives knowledge from computer analysis of biological data. These can consist of the information stored in the genetic code, but also experimental results from various sources, patient statistics, and scientific literature. Research in bioinformatics includes method development for storage, retrieval, and analysis of the data. Bioinformatics is a rapidly developing branch of biology and is highly interdisciplinary, using techniques and concepts from informatics, statistics, mathematics, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, and linguistics. It  has many practical applications in different areas of biology and medicine.
Roughly, bioinformatics describes any use of computers to handle biological information. In practice the definition used by most people is narrower; bioinformatics to them is a synonym for "computational molecular biology"- the use of computers to characterize the molecular components of living things.
Definition of Bioinformatics form various sources:-
  • Bioinformatics is the science of developing computer databases and algorithms for the purpose of speeding up and enhancing biological research. (source: www.whatis.com)
  • As a discipline that builds upon computational biology, bioinformatics encompasses the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems. 

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