Bioinformatics
What is bioinformatics?
Bioinformatics is the field of science in which biology, computer science, and information technology merge into a single discipline. The ultimate goal of the field is to enable the discovery of new biological insights as well as to create a global perspective from which unifying principles in biology can be discerned. There are three important sub-disciplines within bioinformatics:
| the development of new algorithms and statistics with which to assess relationships among members of large data sets; |
| the analysis and interpretation of various types of data including nucleotide and amino acid sequences, protein domains, and protein structures; |
| the development and implementation of tools that enable efficient access and management of different types of information. |
Bioinformatics & HGP
Continued investment in current and new databases and analytical tools is critical to the success of the HGP and to the future usefulness of the data it produces. Databases must adapt to the evolving needs of the scientific community and must allow queries to be answered easily. Planners suggest developing a human genome database, analogous to model organism databases, that will link to phenotypic information. Also needed are databases and analytical tools for studying the expanding body of gene-expression and functional data, for modeling complex biological networks and interactions, and for collecting and analyzing sequence-variation data.
Informatics Abstracts & Reports
| Bioinformatics abstracts from 2000 U.S. DOE Human Genome Program Contractor-Grantee Workshop VIII |
| Informatics abstracts from 1999 U.S. DOE Human Genome Program Contractor-Grantee Workshop VII |
| Informatics abstracts from 1997 U.S. DOE Human Genome Program Contractor-Grantee Workshop VI |
| Informatics abstracts from U.S. DOE Human Genome 1997 Program Report |
| Informatics abstracts from 1996 U.S. DOE Human Genome Program Contractor-Grantee Workshop V |
| Informatics abstracts from 1994 U.S. DOE Human Genome Program Contractor-Grantee Workshop IV |
| Informatics abstracts from U.S. DOE Human Genome 1993 Program Report |
| Report of the Invitational DOE Workshop on Genome Informatics, 26-27 April 1993 (U.S. DOE White Paper on Bioinformatics) |
| U.S. NIH NCHGR GESTEC Directors' Meeting on Genome Informatics (January 1994) |