Introduction to Bioinformatics

Example Problem

Goal: identify a disease gene

Situation: Gene mapped to a certain region, which is currently being sequenced elsewhere.

Strategy: Retrieve new sequences as they are published and look for known or new genes. Test the found genes for relevance to the disease.

Solution

Repeat the following steps every week:

  1. Data retrieval
  2. Identification of known gene(s) by database search
  3. Identification of new gene(s) using gene prediction programs
  4. Storage of results
  5. Experimental examination of the found gene(s)
Note that for steps 2 and 3 you may use existing bioinformatics tools.

Recommendation

Write a computer program to automate steps 1 - 4.

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