Tehdyt toimenpiteet

Genotype and bioinformatics

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, serves as building instructions for an organism. When DNA is read, an enzyme opens the chain, reads the sequence of bases coded in it, and produces a copy. Although all cells in an individual’s body share the same genetic constitution, cells specialize because different genes are activated in different cells.

One of the latest techniques for studying events inside a cell is the DNA chip. It can observe the behavior of as many as tens of thousands of genes at once.

DNA chips are specially treated microscope glass slides. DNA segments corresponding to different genes are attached to these slides as small spots. Each spot corresponds to one gene under study, and the total number of spots on each glass can vary from a few hundred to tens of thousands. Unlike the previous method of studying one gene at a time, the new DNA chip technique makes it possible to observe the simultaneous expression of many genes.

The DNA chip produces such a vast number of observations that advanced IT methods are needed to process them. Bioinformatics is a multidisciplinary field that brings together know-how in molecule biology, mathematics and information technology. It develops efficient computational methods to meet the needs of data analysis in molecule biology.

Searches for identical DNA sequences constitute the most commonly used analysis method in bioinformatics. During the search, the base sequence of DNA or the amino acid sequence of a protein molecule is compared with the known sequences existing in sequence databases. Similarities observed between sequences are utilized, for instance, when assessing the function, structure or family relations of the DNA or protein under study.

Results obtained by research teams around the world are collected into large gene databases that scientists can access through the Internet. Comparing new findings with the known ones is an essential element of genotype research.

The human genome consists of three billion base pairs. When the genome is known, the next major challenge in gene research is to determine the function of various genes.

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Tehdyt toimenpiteet

Genotype and bioinformatics


Sisältö Methods of computational science Applications of scientific computing Modeling the universe Ships and computational fluid dynamics Protein research Drug design Speech recognition and synthetic speech Modeling the human body Modeling in geosciences Geographic information systems Genotype and bioinformatics Grand Challenge research projects in CSC magazines Supercomputers and grids	Tehdyt toimenpiteet Tämä sivu suomeksi Genotype and bioinformatics DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, serves as building instructions for an organism. When DNA is read, an enzyme opens the chain, reads the sequence of bases coded in it, and produces a copy. Although all cells in an individual’s body share the same genetic constitution, cells specialize because different genes are activated in different cells. One of the latest techniques for studying events inside a cell is the DNA chip. It can observe the behavior of as many as tens of thousands of genes at once. DNA chips are specially treated microscope glass slides. DNA segments corresponding to different genes are attached to these slides as small spots. Each spot corresponds to one gene under study, and the total number of spots on each glass can vary from a few hundred to tens of thousands. Unlike the previous method of studying one gene at a time, the new DNA chip technique makes it possible to observe the simultaneous expression of many genes. The DNA chip produces such a vast number of observations that advanced IT methods are needed to process them. Bioinformatics is a multidisciplinary field that brings together know-how in molecule biology, mathematics and information technology. It develops efficient computational methods to meet the needs of data analysis in molecule biology. Searches for identical DNA sequences constitute the most commonly used analysis method in bioinformatics. During the search, the base sequence of DNA or the amino acid sequence of a protein molecule is compared with the known sequences existing in sequence databases. Similarities observed between sequences are utilized, for instance, when assessing the function, structure or family relations of the DNA or protein under study. Results obtained by research teams around the world are collected into large gene databases that scientists can access through the Internet. Comparing new findings with the known ones is an essential element of genotype research. The human genome consists of three billion base pairs. When the genome is known, the next major challenge in gene research is to determine the function of various genes.