It is not easy to find an accurate and comprehensive answer to the question, what exactly bioinformatics is. In the first approximation, as is apparent from the title, bioinformatics is the science at the interface of biology and informatics. However, more specifically it is a discipline, which using methods and approaches based on applied mathematics, statistics, informatics and other computer science deals with biological problems, particularly at the molecular level.
In a broad sense, bioinformatics can be understood as any use of computer technology to solve biological problems. In the more strict sense, bioinformatics is associated only with the development of software for automated analysis of biological data. In 2000 the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) published so called working version of the definition of bioinformatics and computational biology. According to this definition bioinformatics involves [1]: research, development, or application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral or health data, including those to acquire, store, organize, archive, analyze, or visualize such data. In general, however, we can define three main tasks of bioinformatics:
- Creation and management of databases of biological data (DNA, RNA or protein sequences, protein structures, gene expression profiles, etc.).
- Development of algorithms and mathematical models intended for analysis of biological data
- Application of bioinformatics tools for the interpretation of these data in the biological contexts.
Bioinformatics research involves: sequence alignment, identification of the sequence homology, localization of genes and specific sequence motifs and patterns in the sequences, genome mapping, prediction of protein structure, prediction and analysis of intermolecular interactions, analysis of gene expression data and molecular phylogenetic. | 