Differences between Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

 Differences between Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

Bioinformatics   and  Computational  Biology are new field of study in science stream. Both these field initially are confusing to understand, but you study and gain working experience of Bioinformatics   or  Computational  Biology or both.

It becomes obvious scenario where to work, what kind of working skills are required for any of these.

Here are presenting some differences between Bioinformatics and Computational  Biology for better understanding of Bioinformatics Concepts.  

=> Both  Bioinformatics   and  Computational  Biology   are  Computers  and   Biology. 

=> Biologists  who specialize   in  use   of   computational   tools   and  systems   to   answer   problems   of   biology  are bioinformaticians

. 

=> Computer scientists, mathematicians, statisticians, and engineers who specialize in developing  theories,   algorithms  and  techniques  for   such  tools  and   systems  are  computational biologists.  

=> The  actual  process of  analyzing  and  interpreting data  is  referred to  as  computational biology.

Important sub- disciplines within bioinformatics and computational biology include:

== the  development  and  implementation  of  tools  that  enable  efficient access to, and use and management of, various types of information.

==  the  development  of  new   algorithms  (mathematical  formulas)  and  statistics   with  which    to assess  relationships   among  members  of  large  data  sets, such  as  methods  to  locate  a  gene within  a  sequence,  predict   protein  structure  and/or  function,  and  cluster protein  sequences into families of related sequences.

=> Bioinformatics has become a mainstay of genomics, proteomics, and all other *. Omics (such as phenomics) and many information technology companies have entered the business or are considering entering the business, creating an IT (Information Technology) and BT (Biotechnology) convergence.

Differences Between "Bioinformaticist and Bioinformatician":

=>A Bioinformaticist is an expert who not only knows how to use bioinformatics tools, but also knows how to write interfaces for effective use of the tools.

=> A Bioinformatician, on the other hand, is trained individual who only knows to use bioinformatics tools without a deeper understanding.

Importance of “BIOINFORMATICS” for Future developments in Biology

Importance of “BIOINFORMATICS”

Here, Find Some important points on "What is the importance of Bioinformatics in Today Time" to know Bioinformatics in Better ways.

=> The greatest challenge facing the molecular biology community today is to make sense of the wealth of data that  has been produced  by the genome sequencing projects.

=> Cells  have a central core  called nucleus, which is  storehouse of an  important molecule known as DNA. They are  packaged in units known as chromosomes. They  are together known as the genome.

=>  Genes are specific regions  of the genomes (about  1%)   spread  throughout  the  genome sometimes   contiguous,  many  times  non-contiguous.

=> RNAs similarly  contains informations, their  major purpose is  to copy information from

    DNA selectively  and to  bring  it out  of the  nucleus for  its use.

=> Proteins are  made  of amino  acids, which are twenty  in count (researchers are debating  on              increasing this count,  as couple of new  ones are claimed to be identified).

=> The gene regions of the DNA in the nucleus of the cell  is copied (transcribed) into the RNA          and RNA travels to  protein production sites  and is  translated into proteins  is the "Central                Dogma of  Molecular Biology".

=> Portions  of DNA  Sequence are  transcribed into RNA.  The first  step of  a cell  is to copy  a

     particular portion of its DNA nucleotide sequence (i.e. gene) which is shown in Figure Below.

=> Bioinformatics,   being    an   interface   between    modern   biology   and    informatics   it              involves discovery,  development  and  implementation of  computational  algorithms  and                  software tools  that facilitate  an  understanding  of  the  biological processes  (See in Figure              Below)  with  the  goal  to  serve primarily agriculture  and   healthcare  sectors   with  several            spinoffs.

=> In   a  developing   country  like   India, bioinformatics has  a key  role to  play in  areas like              agriculture where  it  can be  used for  increasing the nutritional  content, increasing  the  volume of  the  agricultural  produce  and  implanting  disease resistance  etc.

=> In  the pharmaceutical sector,  it can be  used to reduce  the time and  cost involved in drug              discovery  process particularly for third  world diseases, to  custom design drugs  and to develop

     personalized medicine.

Training Programme under CAFT “Online Content Creation and Management in an eLearning Environment”

Fig  "Information on Sequence Data"

=> Traditionally,  molecular  biology research  was  carried  out entirely  at  the  experimental                  laboratory bench but the  huge increase in the  scale of data being produced  in this genomic era          has seen a need to  incorporate computers  into  this  research  process. Sequence  generation,  its       subsequent storage, interpretation and analysis are entirely computer dependent tasks.

=> However, the molecular biology of an organism  is  a very  complex  issue with  research being          carried out  at molecular  level.

=> The  first challenge facing  the bioinformatics  community today  is the intelligent  and efficient        storage of  this massive data.

=> Moreover, it is  essential to provide easy and reliable access to  this data. The data itself

     is meaningless before analysis and  it is impossible for even a trained  biologist to begin to                interpret it manually. 

=>  Therefore,   automated  computer   tools   must  be   developed   to  allow   the   extraction

     of meaningful   biological   information.  

=>  There are three  central biological  processes around which bioinformatics tools must be                     developed:

    DNA sequence which determines protein sequence

    Protein sequence which determines protein structure

=> Protein structure which determines protein function

    Fig."Hypothesis-generating bioinformatics"

Origin & History of Bioinformatics

Origin & History of Bioinformatics 

Here, Find Some important points on "Origin & History of Bioinformatics" to know Bioinformatics in Better ways.

=> Over a century ago, bioinformatics history started  with an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel.

=> He is  known as  the ―Father  of  Genetics".

=> He  cross-fertilized different  colors  of  the same  species  of flowers.

=> He  kept careful records  of the  colors of flowers  that he 
cross-fertilized  and the  color(s) of flowers they  produced.   

=> Mendel  illustrated   that  the  inheritance   of  traits   could   be  more   easily explained if it was controlled by factors passed  down from generation to generation.  => After this  discovery of  Mendel, bioinformatics  and genetic  record keeping have  come a  long way. => The  understanding of  genetics   has advanced  remarkably   in   the  last   thirty  years. In  1972,  Paul Berg  made the  first  recombinant  DNA  molecule  using ligase.   => In  that  same  year,  Stanley  Cohen, Annie  Chang  and  Herbert  Boyer produced  the first  recombinant   DNA  organism.   => In  1973, two important  things  happened in the field of  genomics: 1.  Joseph Sambrook led a team that refined DNA electrophoresis  using agarose   gel, and 2.  Herbert Boyer  and Stanely Cohen invented DNA cloning.  By 1977,  a method    for  sequencing DNA was discovered and  the first genetic engineering company,   Genetech was founded.   => During  1981,   579  human  genes  had  been   mapped  and   mapping  by  in  situ  hybridization   had become a  standard  method. Marvin Carruthers  and Leory Hood made  a huge leap  in  bioinformatics when  they invented   a  method  for    automated DNA   sequencing.   => In  1988,   the  Human Genome Organization (HUGO)  was   founded. This  is an  international organization  of scientists   involved in Human Genome  Project.   In   1989,   the    first    complete   genome   map   was   published   of   the          bacteria  Haemophilus influenza. => The following year,  the Human  Genome Project was  started.  In 1991,  a total  of  1879 human genes had  been  mapped.    => In  1993,   Genethon,  a  human   genome  research  center    in  France   produced roduced  a  physical  map of  the   human  genome.   => Three  years  later,  Genethon  published the  final version   of  the  Human Genetic  Map  which  concluded  the end  of   the  first  phase  of  the  Human Genome Project. => Bioinformatics was  fuelled by the  need to create  huge  databases, such  as GenBank and  EMBL and DNA  Database of  Japan to  store  and compare  the  DNA sequence  data   erupting from  the  human genome  and other  genome   sequencing projects.  => Today,  bioinformatics embraces  protein  structure analysis,  gene  and protein functional information,  data from patients,  pre-clinical and clinical  trials, and the metabolic pathways of  numerous species.

Introduction to BIOINFORMATICS

Introduction to BIOINFORMATICS:

Bioinformatics   is  the   field   of  science   in   which   biology,   computer   science,   and information technology  merge to  form  a  single  discipline.

=> It  is the  emerging field  that deals   with  the   application   of   computers  to   the collection,  organization,   analysis,  manipulation, presentation, and  sharing of biologic  data  to solve biological problems  on the  molecular  level. => According  to  Frank Tekaia,  bioinformatics  is  the mathematical, statistical  and computing  methods that aim  to solve  biological problems using DNA and amino acid  sequences and related information. => The  term  bioinformatics  was  coined  by  Paulien  Hogeweg  in  1979  for  the study  of informatic   processes     in   biotic   systems.    The    National   Center    for    Biotechnology Information   (NCBI,  2001)   defines    bioinformatics  as:   "Bioinformatics   is   the  field   of science  in  which  biology,    computer  science, and  information  technology  merge    into  a single   discipline.  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; and   the  development   and   implementation implementation   of   tools   that    enable  efficient access   and management of different types  of information.” => Bioinformatics is  a scientific  discipline that  has emerged  in response  to accelerating  demand for a  flexible and  intelligent means of storing,  managing  and querying  large and complex  biological data sets. => The ultimate aim of  bioinformatics 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.  => Over the past few  decades rapid developments in   genomic and other  molecular research  technologies and  developments  in  information  technologies  have    combined  to  produce  a  tremendous  amount  of  information  related  to molecular   biology.  => At  the beginning  of  the  genomic  revolution, the   main concern  of  bioinformatics was  the   creation   and  maintenance  of  a  database  to   store   biological information  such  as nucleotide  and  amino  acid  sequences.  => Development  of this  type  of database involved not  only design  issues but the development  of an interface  whereby  researchers could both access    existing  data    as    well    as    submit    new    or    revised    data     (e.g.    to   the    NCBI, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/).   More  recently,  emphasis  has  shifted  towards  the   analysis  of  large data sets,  particularly those stored   in different formats  in different databases. => Ultimately, all  of this information must  be combined  to form  a comprehensive picture  of normal cellular activities   so that researchers may study how  these activities  are altered in  different disease states.  => Therefore, the  field of  bioinformatics  has  evolved   such  that  the  most  pressing task  now  involves  the  analysis   and interpretation  of  various  types  of  data,  including  nucleotide   and  amino  acid  sequences,  protein domains, and protein  structures.