What is this called "Bioinformatics"

kk_loke86

Hello, I am a undergraduate of Bioinformatics in my local University. I would like to share with some my points of view regarding this fascinating and yet challenging branch of biotechnology.

Bioinformatics.... is a combined word of "bio" and "informatics". It is a combination of biological knowledge and computer science skills.

Speaking of "bio" part... Current bioinformatics focus on molecular level research especially DNA and protein sequences. A bioinformatician have to know how to decipher this living code which hides the secrets of life. Concepts on genomics and proteomic is vital for this subject.

Because the main core of bioinformatics is to develop suitable computational tool for biologist to solve their problems regarding their research.. A bioinformatician has to have a broad knowledge on biological field such as molecular biology (current interest), genome, proteome, taxonomy, phylogenetics, genetics, and evolution theory.

Of, course for bioinformatician, having biological knowledge is not enough. He or she have to developed some basic computational programming skills. At least know the simple programming concept and how compter solve a problem. For experts, many area of computer sciences had to be 'know', such as programming language (PERL, C++, Java, Python), web scripting language(HTML, PHP, ASP), database management (SQL), Artificial Intelligent (Hidden Markov Model, Genetic Algorithms) and software development.

I still remember what my lecturer told me during my first day of bioinformatics course... He said being a bioinformatician, is like have to combine the leaf of cabbage with the root of carrot.... No everybody can maintain such a lot of specialized knowledge in their life to fulfill this new field of biotechnology.. People often either have a strong basic on biology knowledge, or having some excellent computing power, but it is far to rare to have someone who is good in both not to mention specialized on it...

I hope that I can be a good bioinformatician in the future.

Cddhesh

One more career track that is becoming hot these days is Nanotechnology.I think people with (know some Computer languages/ or can learn) have good chance to jump in that area.Both are related to material science with Nanotechnology going into more depth.So i think Nanotechnology can also be good option for you.

jwellsy

Sounds like a good way to improve a quantum computer chip.

loryl

I'm taking a bioinformatics class right now. I fall asleep in it every day. On our first day of class, our professor implied the easy and boring nature of the course. It's not just me that thinks the class is boring. In our class of about 40, only one person pays enough attention during lecture to ask questions.

You're so lucky you have a good professor!! It can totally ruin or bring more interest to an unknown field.

Lennon

I did bioinformatics in my final year degree thesis.

I compared the sequences of the E.coli gene in study to the same gene in 100's of species studies, particularly bacillus subtillis and yeast, using the BLAST database from the human genome project.

Bioinformatics is the use of computers to analyse genetic sequences, in either DNA, RNA or protein coding sequences. The use of bioinformatics then allows the reprogramming or genetic engineering of the sequences for example. There are numerous techniques that computers allow, like the DNA codon sequencing of a known amino-acid sequence, to find a specific gene in a DNA strand. This for example could be compared to the known DNA strand, to compare the ideal codon sequence to the actual, and you might just find a load of satellite DNA's, repeats and other "Junk DNA" that provide useful information. In short, the use of computer programming can find useful sequences and functions in DNA.

There is also an interesting topic called DNA computers, where DNA could be used to store information for computers. DNA is 4-bit whereas most computer hardware is binary. The DNA extracts information by the use of enzymes that produce protein from a known sequence, and the protein can be automatically detected onto a sensor chip (a biochip that picks up signal from an immunarray for example). The process is quite slow for computing speeds that we now have (a kilobase of DNA can be sensed in milliseconds). The advantage of DNA as a source of information is the 4 base instead of 2 base (binary), so that you can hold up to massive amounts of information in the same space that binary information would be much less. The use of DNA for computers could be applied to ROM, for example hard disks, where the access speed is not as essential as the RAM for computing power, and you can hold more information. So the technology and programming of DNA into computer logic is also where you could end up.