Career In Bioinformatics

Career Course ::: Bioinformatics Course

Are you interested in the life sciences? Are you interested in computers too? If the answer is in the affirmative, you should go in for a course in Bioinformatics. This is the field in which there is a happy amalgamation between biology and information technology. You will analyse the huge amount of genomic sequence information which has been generated thorough years of research. Your analysis will throw light on the evolution of several species on the earth and will also help mankind to unearth the several mysteries of genetics. Bioinformatics is increasingly being utilized in pharmaceuticals, textiles, agricultural and biotech companies. This industry is growing by leap and bounds in India and several other foreign countries too. The prospect of finding a job, with a professional course in Bioinformatics under one’s belt, are really immense.

The management and analysis of data by the usage of advanced computing systems is known as Informatics. Bioinformatics is the disciplines in which databases of biological information are created and maintained. Bioinformatics is the field in which information science is applied to biology.

Molecular biology has made tremendous advances in the past few decades. Large amount of complex data has been generated with the availability of equipments for research in this field. Research in this field has resulted in the complete sequencing of the genomes of several bacteria and also of some simple eukaryotes. Large portions of the genomes of several species have also been sequenced. There is rapid progress in the Human Genome Project whose objective is to sequence all the 24 human chromosomes. There has also been enormous growth in comprehensive sequence databases like the DDBJ (DNA Data Bank of Japan); the EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) and GenBank. Most of the databases comprise nucleic acid sequences and protein sequences derived from them. Mostly, the data is in the form of sequences, images, intensities, pathways (networks and circuits) and structures. The representation, modelling and simulation of biological systems is dealt with, at a advanced level, in Bioinformatics.

The huge amount of information, collected through research, needs to be properly organized and stored. The sequence information also needs to be sequence information also needs to be indexed properly. Bioinformatics helps to indexed properly. Bioinformatics helps to store, organize and index the sequence information using advanced computing systems and is hence an important adjunct to genomics research. Biology, computer science and information technology merge together to form the discipline of Bioinformatics.

The analysis of sequence information, thus stored, is the next step and the most Pressing task in Bioinformatics. Computational Biology is the process in which the analysis of sequence information is done. In the discipline of computational Biology, algorithms and statistical models are developed for the analysis of biological data through the aid of computers. In Computational Biology the genes in the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) sequences of various organisms are found out. Methods to predict the structure and / or function of newly discovered proteins and structural RNA (ribonucleic acid) sequences are developed through the use of computational Biology. In this discipline

Protein models are developed and protein sequences are clustered into families of related sequences. In order to examine evolutionary relationships, similar proteins are aligned and phylogenetic trees generated, through the use of Computational Biology.

Proteins with very specific functions of their own are encoded in the DNA sequences. This is a result of the long process of evolution. It is now possible to predict the tree-dimensional structure of a protein with the help of algorithms. These algorithms have been derived by the use of the knowledge of physics, chemistry and by the analysis of other proteins which have similar sequences of amino acid.

Pharmaceuticals and agriculture are two areas where Bioinformatics finds sciences. Biotechnology is also positively affecting the medicine, textiles and petroleum industry which is a big beneficiary of the development in Bioinformatics. The drug design process which consumes several hundred millions of dollars and takes several years, can now be done easily by the use of Bioinformatics. Design and development of new drugs can now be done within a limited budget and within a limited time frame. In the field of Agriculture, the application of Bioinformatics has led to the development of high yield and high nutrient varieties of plants. This can alleviate the suffering of millions of people who are dying of starvation.

A massive growth in the Bioinformatics and Biotech industry in India is forecast over the next five years. This industry is poised to capture an expected global market share of 10 percent at the end of five years.

Career In Bioinformatics