BIOINFORMATICS:INRODUCTION In biology, bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field that develops and improves upon methods for storing, retrieving, organizing

and analyzing biological data. A major activity in bioinformatics is to develop software tools to generate useful biological knowledge. Bioinformatics has become an important part of many areas of biology. In experimental molecular biology, bioinformatics techniques such as image and signal processing allow extraction of useful results from large amounts of raw data. In the field of genetics and genomics, it aids in sequencing and annotating genomes and their observed mutations. It plays a role in the textual mining of biological literature and the development of biological and gene ontologies to organize and query biological data. It plays a role in the analysis of gene and protein expression and regulation. Bioinformatics tools aid in the comparison of genetic and genomic data and more generally in the understanding of evolutionary aspects of molecular biology. At a more integrative level, it helps analyze and catalogue the biological pathways and networks that are an important part of systems biology. In structural biology, it aids in the simulation and modeling of DNA, RNA, and protein structures as well as molecular interactions. Bioinformatics uses many areas of computer science, mathematics and engineering to process biological data. Complex machines are used to read in biological data at a much faster rate than before. Databases and information systems are used to store and organize biological data. Analyzing biological data may involve algorithms in artificial intelligence, soft computing, data mining, image processing, and simulation. The algorithms in turn depend on theoretical foundations such as discrete mathematics, control theory, system theory, information theory, and statistics. Commonly used software tools and technologies in the field include Java, C#, XML, Perl, C, C++, Python, R, SQL, CUDA, MATLAB, and spreadsheet applications.

Importance/scopes/applications of Bioinformatics Bioinformatics is being used in following fields: 1) Molecular medicine: The human genome has profound effect on the fields of biomedical research and clinical medicine. Every disease has a genetic component. This may be inherited (as is the case with an estimated 3000-4000 hereditary disease including Cystic Fibrosis and Huntingtons disease) or a result of the body's response to an environmental stress which causes alterations in the genome (eg. cancers, heart disease, diabetes.). From Human Genome Project Data Base we can search for the genes directly associated with different diseases and understand the molecular basis of these diseases more clearly.

2) Personalised medicine Clinical medicine will become more personalized with the development of the field of pharma-cogenomics. This is the study of how an individual's genetic inheritance affects the body's response to drugs. At present, some drugs fail to make it to the market because a small percentage of the clinical patient population show adverse affects to a drug due to sequence variants in their DNA. As a result, potentially lifesaving drugs never makes it to the marketplace. Today, doctors have to use trial and error to find the best drug to treat a particular patient as those with the same clinical symptoms can show a wide range of responses to the same treatment. In future, doctors will be able to analyse a patient's genetic profile and prescribe the best available drug therapy and dosage from the beginning. 3) Preventative medicine With the specific details of the genetic mechanisms of diseases being unraveled, the development of diagnostic tests to measure a persons susceptibility to different diseases may become a distinct reality. Preventative actions such as change of lifestyle or having treatment at the earliest possible stages when they are more likely to be successful, could result in huge advances in our struggle to conquer disease.

4) Gene therapy In the not too distant future, the potential for using genes themselves to treat disease may become a reality. Gene therapy is the approach used to treat, cure or even prevent disease by changing the expression of a persons genes. Currently, this field is in its infantile stage with clinical trials for many different types of cancer and other diseases ongoing. 5) Drug development At present all drugs on the market target only about 500 proteins. With an improved understanding of disease mechanisms and using computational tools to identify and validate new drug targets, more specific medicines that act on the cause, not merely the symptoms, of the disease can be developed. These highly specific drugs promise to have fewer side effects than many of today's medicines.

7) Climate change Studies Increasing levels of carbon dioxide emission, mainly through the expanding use of fossil fuels for energy, are thought to contribute to global climate change. One method of doing so is to study the genomes of microbes that use carbon dioxide as their sole carbon source. 8) Antibiotic resistance Scientists have been examining the genome of Enterococcus faecalis-a leading cause of bacterial infection among hospital patients. They have discovered a virulence region made up of a number of antibiotic-resistant genes that may contribute to the bacterium's transformation from a harmless gut bacterium to a menacing invader. The discovery of the region, known as a pathogenicity island, could provide useful markers for detecting pathogenic strains and help to establish controls to prevent the spread of infection in wards. 9) Forensic analysis of microbes Scientists used their genomic tools to help distinguish between the strains of Bacillus anthraces that was used in the summer of 2001 terrorist attack in Florida with that of closely related anthrax strains. 10) Bio-weapon creation Scientists have recently built the virus poliomyelitis using entirely artificial means. They did this using genomic data available on the Internet and materials from a mail-order chemical supply. The research was financed by the US Department of Defense as part of a bio-warfare response program to prove to the world the reality of bio-weapons. The researchers also hope their work will discourage officials from ever relaxing programs of immunization. This project has been met with very mixed feelings 11) Evolutionary studies The sequencing of genomes from all three domains of life, eukaryota, bacteria and archaea means that evolutionary studies can be performed in a quest to determine the tree of life and the last universal common ancestor.

12) Crop improvement Comparative genetics of the plant genomes has shown that the organisation of their genes has remained more conserved over evolutionary time than was previously believed. These findings suggest that information obtained from the model crop systems can be used to suggest improvements to other food crops. At present the complete genomes of Arabidopsis thaliana (water cress) and Oryza sativa (rice) are available.

15) Insect resistance Genes from Bacillus thuringiensis that can control a number of serious pests have been successfully transferred to cotton, maize and potatoes. This new ability of the plants to resist insect attack means that the amount of insecticides being used can be reduced and hence the nutritional quality of the crops is increased 16) Improve nutritional quality Scientists have recently succeeded in transferring genes into rice to increase levels of Vitamin A, iron and other micronutrients. This work could have a profound impact in reducing occurrences of blindness and anaemia caused by deficiencies in Vitamin A and iron respectively. Scientists have inserted a gene from yeast into the tomato, and the result is a plant whose fruit stays longer on the vine and has an extended shelf life. 17) Veterinary Science Sequencing projects of many farm animals including cows, pigs and sheep are now well under way in the hope that a better understanding of the biology of these organisms will have huge impacts for improving the production and health of livestock and ultimately have benefits for human nutrition.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF BIOINFORMATICS ADVANTAGES: (1) Bioinformatics. Makes the rapid organization and analysis of biological data possible, via interdisciplinary approaches which address biological problems using computational techniques. The field may also be referred to as computational biology, and can be defined as, "conceptualizing biology in terms of molecules, and then applying informatics techniques to understand and organize the information associated with these molecules, on a large scale." Bioinformatics plays a key role in various areas, such as functional genomics, structural genomics, and proteomics, and forms a key component in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. (2) Blue biotechnology. Marine and aquatic applications of biotechnology, used to improve cleanup of toxic spills, improve yields of fisheries, etc. (3) Green biotechnology. Agricultural uses of biotechnology, such as the selection and domestication of plants via micropropagation, designing transgenic plants to grow under specific environmental conditions or in the presence (or absence) of certain agricultural chemicals, development of more environmentally friendly solutions than traditional industrial agriculture (e.g., the engineering of a plant to express a pesticide, thereby eliminating the need for external application of pesticides, like Bt corn). Among the benefits are crops with better taste, texture, appearance, aroma, nutrition, yield, robustness in adverse environmental conditions, and resistance to herbs, fungi, and pests. (4) Red biotechnology. Application of biotechnology to medicine, including the designing of organisms to produce antibiotics, and the engineering of genetic cures through genomic manipulation. Other areas: (a) Drug production. Genetically altered mammalian cells, such as Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, are also used to manufacture certain pharmaceuticals. Another promising new biotechnology application is the development of plant-made pharmaceuticals. A genetically engineered bacterium produces vast quantities of synthetic human insulin at relatively low cost. Biotechnology has also made it possible to cheaply produce human growth hormone, clotting factors for hemophiliacs, fertility drugs, erythropoietin, and other drugs.

(b) Pharmacogenomics. The study of how genetic inheritance affects an individual's response to drugs, in order to design tailor-made medicines adapted uniquely to each persons genetic makeup, based on the proteins, enzymes and RNA molecules that are associated with specific genes and diseases, to optimize drug dosage, maximize therapeutic effects, and decrease damage to nearby healthy cells. Pharmacogenomics should also significantly expedite the drug discovery process.

(c) Gene therapy. Treating or even curing of genetic and acquired diseases like cancer and AIDS by using normal genes to supplement or replace defective genes, or to bolster a normal function such as immunity.

(d) Genetic testing. DNA probes can be injected that will bind to any mutated sequences in a human's genome, flagging the mutation. DNA sequences in a diseased patient can also be compared to healthy individuals in order to determine the genetic cause of a malady (e.g., carrier screening, confirmational diagnosis of symptomatic individuals, forensic/identity testing, newborn screening, prenatal diagnostic screening, presymptomatic testing for estimating the risk of developing disorders).

(e) Improved vaccines. Vaccines can be developed that will elicit the immune response without the attendant risks of infection, and that will be relatively inexpensive, stable, easy to store, and capable of being engineered to carry several strains of pathogen simultaneously.

(f) Biopharmaceuticals. By using computer-generated images of complex molecules such as proteins, the underlying mechanisms and pathways of a malady can be better understood and targeted.

(g) New medical therapies. Biotechnology has led to treatments for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, cancers, arthritis, haemophilia, bone fractures, multiple sclerosis, and cardiovascular disorders.

(h) Diagnostics. The biotechnology industry has also been instrumental in developing molecular diagnostic devices that can be used to define the target patient population for a given biopharmaceutical. Herceptin, for example, was the first drug approved for use with a matching diagnostic test and is used to treat breast cancer in women whose cancer cells express the protein HER2. (5) White biotechnology. Also known as industrial biotechnology. Exemplified by the designing of an organism to produce a useful chemical, the use of enzymes as industrial catalysts to either produce valuable chemicals or destroy hazardous/polluting chemicals, and the development of biotechnological processes that consume fewer resources than traditional processes used to produce industrial goods. (4) Bioeconomics. Investment in applied biotechnologies to increase economic output

DISADVANTAGES: (1) Loss of privacy. Medical and genetic information is more likely to be stored and shared. (2) Discrimination. Private insurers, employers, and governmental entities are more likely to discriminate against people who have genetic or medical anomalies, especially if such information is available in databases. (3) Cloning. Reproductive cloning could create "Frankensteins" or result in eugenic practices. Therapeutic cloning is also regarded as unethical by some groups, primarily religious organizations. (4) Transformations of wild species. Exposure of wild species to genetically modified crops or domestic livestock could cause "super species" to evolve with resistance to pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. (5) Loss of biodiversity. Development of genetically modified crops or domestic livestock could reduce genetic variety among both domesticated and wild species. (6) Harmful chemicals. Although biotechnology will generate many new and valuable chemicals, some chemicals with unknown or damaging environmental impacts are likely to be developed.