Topic Name = Definition

and History of
Bioinformatics
 PICTORIAL OVERVIEW OF
BIOINFORMATICS

Biology

Mathematics BIOINFORMATICS Statistics

Computer
Science
 WHAT IS “BIOINFORMATICS”..

• The ‘intersection’ between computer science and molecular biology

– The algorithm and techniques of computer science are being used to solve
the problems faced by molecular biologists

• ‘Information technology applied to the management and analysis of biological

data’
– Storage and Analysis are two of the important functions – bioinformaticians
build tools for each.
– Bioinformatics can be defined as the use of computers for the acquisition,
management, and analysis of biological information. It exists at the
intersection of molecular biology, computational biology, clinical medicine,
database computing, the Internet, and sequence analysis.
HISTORY OF BIOINFORMATICS
• First complete protein sequence was determined
19 by Frederick Sanger known as bovine insulin.
51
• Margaret Dayhoff established the ATLAS of protein
19 sequences which became the base for PIR
65
• The term BIOINFORMATICS was coined by Paulin
19 Hogeweg & Ben Hesper
70
HISTORY OF BIOINFORMATICS
• Sequencing DNA by Frederick
19 Sanger.
77

19 • Human Genome Project started.

90
• Human Genome Project
20 completed.
03
 Central Paradigm in Molecular Biology

DNA mRNA Protein

21ST century

Genome Transcriptome Proteome

 RECAPPING BIOINFORMATICS

• Bioinformatics is redefining rules and scientific

approaches, resulting in the ‘new biology’. Within this
new paradigm the traditional scientific boundaries are
blurred, leaving no clear line between ‘dry or
computational’ and ‘wet-based’ approaches.
 ROLE OF BIOINFORMATICS

DATA GENERATION AND DATA INTEGRATION DATA USAGE AND THE SCIENTIFIC TECHNOLOGICAL
VALIDATION. AND FUSION. USAGE INTERFACING. RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPONSIBILITY TO
DEVELOP THE MANAGE AND
UNDERLYING INTEGRATE HUGE
COMPUTATIONAL AMOUNTS OF
CONCEPTS AND HETEROGENEOUS DATA
MODELS TO CONVERT SOURCES FROM HIGH
COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL THROUGHPUT
DATA INTO USEFUL EXPERIMENTATION
BIOLOGICAL AND
CHEMICAL
KNOWLEDGE
APPLICATIONS OF
BIOINFORMATICS
Sequence
assembly

10
 Genome
annotation

11
 Protein
structure
prediction
Protein
docking

12
 ADVANCEMENTS & FUTURE
APPLICATIONS

• Molecular medicine: From Human Genome Project Data Base we can

search for the genes directly associated with different diseases and
understand the molecular basis of these diseases more clearly. This new
knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of disease will enable better
treatments, cures and even preventative tests to be developed.
• Personalized medicine: Clinical medicine will become more personalized
with the development of the field of pharma-co-genomics. This is the study
of how an individual's genetic inheritance affects the body's response to
drugs. In future, doctors will be able to analyse a patient's genetic profile
and prescribe the best available drug therapy and dosage from the
beginning.
• Gene therapy: Gene therapy is the approach used to treat, cure or even
prevent disease by changing the expression of a persons genes. In the not
too distant future, the potential for using genes themselves to treat disease
may become a reality.
 CONTD.

• Drug development: With an improved understanding of

disease mechanisms and using computational tools to
identify and validate new drug targets, more specific
medicines that act on the cause, not merely the
symptoms, of the disease can be developed.
• Evolutionary studies: The sequencing of genomes from
all three domains of life, eukaryota, bacteria and archaea
means that evolutionary studies can be performed in a
quest to determine the tree of life and the last universal
common ancestor.