Practical Bioinformatics

Practical Bioinformatics is specifically designed as an introduction to bioinformatics sequence analysis. Many readers are exploring their future paths or are fascinated by the headlines about interesting gene discoveries and want to understand more. There is heavy emphasis on the steps required to perform bioinformatics analysis to answer biological questions. The book contains many exercises such as database searches, protein analysis, and data interpretation to complement the straightforward and practical topics. The chapters are focused on DNA, RNA, and protein sequence analysis—frequently performed subsets of the field of bioinformatics—taking the reader through the commonly asked ques>tion: “what can I learn about this sequence?”

Established scientists at universities, biotech firms, and pharmaceutical companies are finding their work is becoming more dependent on bioinformatics and are missing these skills. More and more, genomic data has become part of their daily lives, and the pace is accelerating. Those not trained in bioinformatics will find that this book will serve as a solid foundation for terms and concepts of genomics and bioinformatics. With this new knowledge, you will have a better appreciation of new developments in your field and can turn a more critical eye toward the information crossing your desk.

Key Features

• Using compelling biological examples, sequence analysis problems are shown and solved.
• Each chapter introduces essential topics and skills to be learned.
• The book includes over 300 figures, most of which have been updated since the last edition.
• Screenshots from actual websites (for example, the NCBI) are used to illustrate the examples and exercises.
• Exercises help solidify the understanding of concepts and help the student learn how to solve biological problems. Many exercises can be adapted to accommodate a reader’s gene of interest.

Michael Agostino received his PhD in molecular biology from Roswell Park, a division of SUNY at Buffalo, New York. He did genetic engineering laboratory research for 13 years before making the formal switch to bioinformatics, working at GlaxoSmithKline, Genetics Institute, and Pfizer for over 33 years. At those companies he worked with other scientists, providing sequence analysis support for projects too numerous to count. Michael is now an instructor for Harvard Extension School, where, for 10 years, he has been teaching a course largely based on this book.