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Sequence Analysis: Deciphering

the Language of Life

Abstract

Sequence analysis is a central tool of bioinformatics with relevant databases (NCBI,

GenBank, Swiss-Prot) and software to detect sequence similarity (BLAST) and domain

databases (Pfam, SMART). Crucial is the ability to know and use such software on the

web, the tutorials and exercises encourage this. Programming sequence comparison

software and databases only makes sense if it enables a better analysis of the biological

question, in particular for large-scale analysis – in all other cases, it is better to use the

numerous software that already exist, the internet is only a mouse click away.

Bioinformatics requires data on living organisms, processes them and then designs a cor­

responding model of the living process that is thereby mapped. A good simple example is

when a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to detect a virus in the blood. Polymerases

copy DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and were originally derived from bacteria. Hereby

they also duplicate their genetic information. PCR is a modern method of molecular biol­

ogy. Using such a chain reaction, so much of a molecule (if, for example, there is only one

virus molecule in the blood) is produced by constant doubling of the molecules with the

help of polymerase that it can be easily detected in the laboratory and, above all, the

sequence can be read.

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© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023

T. Dandekar, M. Kunz, Bioinformatics,

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65036-3_1