DNA sequencing

The term DNA sequencing encompasses biochemical methods for determining the order of the nucleotide bases, adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine, in a DNA oligonucleotide. Sequencing methods have evolved from relatively laborious gel-based procedures to modern automated protocols based on dye labelling and detection in capillary electrophoresis that permit rapid large-scale sequencing of genomes and transcriptomes. Knowledge of DNA sequences of genes and other parts of the genome of organisms has become indispensable for basic research studying biological processes, as well as in applied fields such as diagnostic or forensic research. The advent of DNA sequencing has significantly accelerated biological research and discovery. The rapid speed of sequencing attained with modern DNA sequencing technology has been instrumental in the sequencing of the human genome, in the Human Genome Project. Related projects, often by scientific collaboration across continents, have generated the complete DNA sequences of many animal, plant, and microbial genomes.

Molecular modelling

Molecular modelling is a collective term that refers to theoretical methods and computational techniques to model or mimic the behaviour of molecules. The techniques are used in the fields of computational chemistry, computational biology and materials science for studying molecular systems ranging from small chemical systems to large biological molecules and material assemblies. The simplest calculations can be performed by hand, but inevitably computers are required to perform molecular modelling of any reasonably sized system. The common feature of molecular modelling techniques is the atomistic level description of the molecular systems; the lowest level of information is individual atoms (or a small group of atoms). This is in contrast to quantum chemistry (also known as electronic structure calculations) where electrons are considered explicitly. The benefit of molecular modelling is that it reduces the complexity of the system, allowing many more particles (atoms) to be considered during simulations.

Computational genomics

Computational genomics is the study of deciphering biology from genome sequences using computational analysis., including both DNA and RNA. Computational genomics focuses on understanding the human genome, and more generally the principles of how DNA controls the biology of any species at the molecular level. With the current abundance of massive biological datasets, computational studies have become one of the most important means to biological discove

Algorithm

In mathematics, computing, linguistics and related subjects, an algorithm is a sequence of finite instructions, often used for calculation and data processing. It is formally a type of effective method in which a list of well-defined instructions for completing a task will, when given an initial state, proceed through a well-defined series of successive states, eventually terminating in an end-state. The transition from one state to the next is not necessarily deterministic; some algorithms, known as probabilistic algorithms, incorporate randomness.

A partial formalization of the concept began with attempts to solve the Entscheidungsproblem (the "decision problem") posed by David Hilbert in 1928. Subsequent formalizations were framed as attempts to define "effective calculability" (Kleene 1943:274) or "effective method" (Rosser 1939:225); those formalizations included the Gödel-Herbrand-Kleene recursive functions of 1930, 193