Advances in Computers, Volume 68: Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Advances in Computers, Volume 68: Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (Advances in Computers)
By Marvin Zelkowitz







Publisher: Academic Press
Number Of Pages: 334
Publication Date: 2006-11-22
ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0120121689
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780120121687
Binding: Hardcover





The field of bioinformatics and computational biology arose due
to the need to apply techniques from computer science, statistics,
informatics, and applied mathematics to solve biological problems.
Scientists have been trying to study biology at a molecular level using
techniques derived from biochemistry, biophysics, and genetics.
Progress has greatly accelerated with the discovery of fast and
inexpensive automated DNA sequencing techniques.



As the genomes of more and more organisms are sequenced and
assembled, scientists are discovering many useful facts by tracing the
evolution of organisms by measuring changes in their DNA, rather than
through physical characteristics alone. This has led to rapid growth in
the related fields of phylogenetics, the study of evolutionary
relatedness among various groups of organisms, and comparative
genomics, the study of the correspondence between genes and other
genomic features in different organisms. Comparing the genomes of
organisms has allowed researchers to better understand the features and
functions of DNA in individual organisms, as well as provide insights
into how organisms evolve over time.



The first four chapters of this book focus on algorithms for
comparing the genomes of different organisms. Possible concrete
applications include identifying the basis for genetic diseases and
tracking the development and spread of different forms of Avian flu. As
researchers begin to better understand the function of DNA, attention
has begun shifting towards the actual proteins produced by DNA. The
final two chapters explore proteomic techniques for analyzing proteins
directly to identify their presence and understand their physical
structure.



- Written by active PhD researchers in computational biology and bioinformatics