Bioinformatics:
Guide to bio-computing and the
Internet
Dr. Saira Khan
Goals For This Course
I. Gain an understanding of the range of problems
being tackled by bioinformatics.
II. Understand what bioinformatics programs are
available and being used in biomedical research.
III. Be able to interpret the output & results of
bioinformatics programs and understand their
limitations.
IV. Learn more about Biology
The “old” biology
The most challenging task for a scientist is to get good data
The “new” biology
The most challenging task for a scientist is to make sense of lots of data
Introduction: What is bioinformatics?
Can be defined as the body of tools,
algorithms needed to handle large and
complex biological information.
Bioinformatics is a new scientific discipline
created from the interaction of biology and
computer.
The NCBI defines bioinformatics as:
"Bioinformatics is the field of science in which
biology, computer science, and information
technology merge into a single discipline”
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics – attempted definition:
“The application of computational techniques to
understand and organise the information associated
with biological macromolecules”
Adapted from Oxford English Dictionary
Biological experiments Computational Biology
Databases
Bioinformatics history
In1960s: the birth of bioinformatics
Margaret Oakley Dayhoff created:
The first protein database
organized the proteins into families and
superfamilies based on degree of sequence
similarity
Idea of sequence alignment was introduced that
reflected the frequency of changes observed in
the sequences of a group of closely related
proteins
The first DNA database was established in 1979.
• Development of sequence retrieval methods (1970-80s)
• Development of principles of sequence alignment
(1980s)
• Prediction of RNA secondary structure (1980s)
• Prediction of protein secondary structure and 3D
(1980-90s)
• The FASTA and BLAST methods for DB search (1980-
90s)
• Prediction of genes (1990s)
• Studies of complete genome sequences (late 1990s –
2000s)
5. Mutation correction
6. Gene Therapy
Bioinformatics plays a crucial role in gene therapy
by providing computational tools and algorithms for
target selection, guide RNA design, off-target
analysis, and data management, thereby
accelerating research, improving safety, and
enabling personalized treatment strategies.
