Transcript Bioinformatics is the research, development, or use of computational

BIOINFORMATICS
WHAT IS BIOINFORMATICS?
• Bioinformatics is the research, development, or use of
computational tools and approaches for the acquisition and
analysis of biological data
Source: http://www.imb-jena.de/~rake/Bioinformatics_WEB/bioinformatics.gif
WHY IS IT USEFUL?
Map of the human X chromosome
• Why are computers
useful in biological
research?
– Biological data is far
too complex and vast
to process manually
– Computers provide
novel means of
collecting, analyzing,
visualizing, and storing
data
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Genome_viewer_screenshot_small.png
WHAT RESEARCH IS
BIOINFORMATICS USEFUL FOR?
• Topics that would be difficult or near-impossible to cover
with traditional methods:
• DNA sequencing and analysis
• Data mining massive databases
• Simulation of three-dimensional biological structures
• Topics that are derived from knowledge gained in
Bioinformatics:
• Personalized Medicine
• Gene Therapies
• Creating organisms for agricultural or industrial uses
THE FIELD
• Experienced Bioinformaticians are still rare and are highly
sought after as the number of Bioinformatics programs in
universities is steadily increasing
• There are numerous jobs in the field of Bioinformatics:
• Database creation/management
• Pharmaceutical research
• Gene and Protein mapping and analysis
• It will be possible to simulate biological experiments solely
on computers as the knowledge and understanding of
computers and Bioinformatics techniques improves