Free Bioinformatics and Computational Biology OCR A Level Biology revision notes – covering specification points 6.1.3(a), 6.1.3(b) and 6.1.3(c).
Two interdisciplinary fields have developed to enable scientists to practically use the huge quantities of data being generated by DNA sequencing, known as bioinformatics and computational biology:
- Bioinformatics is the use of computers to organise, retrieve and store data.
- Computational biology is the use of computers to analyse and interpret biological data.
Bioinformatics
DNA sequencing data is stored in searchable databases in a standardised format, allowing for universal understanding for researchers who are accessing it across the world.
Data generated from DNA sequencing and stored in databases includes:
- DNA and amino acid sequences.
- Protein structures.
- Metabolic pathways.
Computational Biology
Computational biology involves the effective analysis and interpretation of the data stored by bioinformatics.
Scientists can research and utilise the information stored in databases including:
- Identifying patterns, similarities and differences between DNA sequences and organisms’ genomes so that comparisons can be made.
- Predict the amino acid sequence of a protein from a gene’s base sequence and use this information to model its three-dimensional structure.
- Design new proteins and metabolic pathways, and determine the needed DNA sequences an organism would need to produce them in protein synthesis (synthetic biology).