Bio-Informatice-Intro:

Bioinformatics is a synergistic study of both biotechnology and information technology.In recent years, Biotechnology is turning into an industrial science through genetic engineering.

Human DNA:

The following picture shows how similiar is the human DNA....!

Scope of Genetic Engineering:

• To manufacture drugs and other life saving bioproducts such as insulin, growth hormones, interferons, cytokines and monoclonal antibodies.
• For environmental management to reduce or abate the pollution load in soil or water.
• In waste recycling to increase productivity.
• In plant breeding by the incorporation of useful genes (NIF genes = Nitrogen Fixing Genes ).
• In treatment of diseases by the way of gene therapy.

Brief Information-BioInformatice:

• Computers and newly evolved software packages are utilized for these purposes.
• Thus biological studies are provided with a support from electronic computers.
• This new integrated field constitutes Bioinformatics.
• Bioinformatics deals with the creation and maintenance of databases of biological information such as nucleic acid, gene sequences and protein sequences.

• It has its own application in gene therapy, diagnostics, drug designing, etc…
• It involves data the data analysis or creation of electronic databases on genomes and protein molecules.

History Of BioInformatics:

From the beginning of the post Mendelian’s period, genetic principles propounded by various geneticists have revealed the functional behavior of discrete hereditary particles called the GENES., in the expression of various morphological(phenotypical) and biochemical traits of organisms.

DataBase:

• ‘Creating’ database means a coherent collection of data with inherent meaning, used for future application.
• Database is a general repository of voluminous information or records to be processed by a programme.

Types:

• Databases are broadly classified as generalized databases and specialized databases.
• Databases of expressed sequence Tags(ESTs), genome survey sequences(GSs), single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs), sequence Tagged sites(STSs) RNA databases are included under specialized databases.

Generalized Databases:

• Structural organization of DNA, protein, carbohydrates are included under generalized databases.
• They contain Sequence database and Structural database.

Sequence Database:

• Sequence database are the sequence records of either nucleotides or amino acids.
• The former is the nucleic acid databases and the latter are the protein sequence databases.

Structure Database:

• Structure databases are the individual records of macromolecular structures.
• The nucleic acid databases are again classified into Primary Databases and Secondary Databases.

Primary Database:

Primary Databases contain the data in their original form taken as such from the source.

Ex : Gene bank (NCBI / USA) Protein, SWISS-PROT (Switzerland), Protein 3D structure…

Secondary Database:

Secondary databases also called as Value Added Databases contain annotated data and information.

Ex : OMIN – Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man , GDB – Genome Database – Human.

Nucleic Acid Sequence Database:

• EMBL: European Molecular Biology Laboratory
• NCBI: National Centre for Biotechnology Information
• DDBJ: DNA data bank of Japan, are the three premier institutes considered as the authorities in the nucleotide sequence databases.

Protein Sequence Database:

• The Protein sequence databases elucidate the high level annotations such as the description of the protein functions .
• SWISS-PROT groups at SIB ( Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics) at www.expasy.ch and EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute) have developed the protein sequence databases.

Genome Sequencing:

• Automated sequencing machines called the Sequenators are developed to read hundreds of bases in the DNA.
• The DNA sequence data are then stored in a computer accessible form.

Library:

• DNA Library : A collection of DNA fragments, which contains all the sequences of a single organism.
• cDNA Library ( Complementary DNA ) : In cDNA, copies of messenger RNA are made using the enzyme reverse transcriptase. The cDNA libraries are smaller than genomic libraries and contain only DNA molecules.

Specialize:

• The languages like C, C++, JAVA, LINUX, UNIX, FORTRAN ,… help in bioinformatics.
• Besides, the knowledge of ORACLE database and SYBASE are essential.

• To understand gene structure and protein synthesis.
• To know more about the diseases.
• To understand more about the fundamental biology and the thread of life – the DNA.
• It paves the way for the medical and bioengineering applications.

Hope you gained some info.......

Thankyou,

Rajkumar....