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How Do Cells Read Their Genome?

Well, cells read their genome with the help of special enzymes called polymerases. They

use them to translate the genome into RNA molecules and then into new proteins via pro­

tein translation. This is where the NCBI website first comes in handy in order to find DNA

sequences that have been sequenced before or are currently being sequenced. There are

now millions of such sequences and billions of base pair sequence information. The

European EMBL database also has comparable information. The EBI website still has

ready-made program modules for the bioinformatician. For all sequence comparisons, the

BLAST sequence algorithm is a very good starting point. It quickly compares sequences

from genomes, but also from RNA molecules and proteins with the large relevant data­

bases for these molecules. Subsequently, a functional overview of all RNA molecules is

obtained using the Rfam database. The RNAAnalyzer software identifies subtleties of

RNA such as regulatory elements, secondary structure, energy and sequence motifs.

RNAfold is used to understand structures in RNA. An overview of protein functions based

11.2  Bioinformatics Provides Detailed Insights into the Molecular Biology of the Cell