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NPTEL Bioinformatics Course Notes

Jun 30, 2024

NPTEL Bioinformatics Course

Instructor

  • Dr. Michael Gromiha
  • Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras

Lecture Overview

  • Introduction to Bioinformatics
  • Key aspects and applications
  • Complexities of biological systems

Course Materials

  • Books:
    • Protein Bioinformatics by Dr. Michael Gromiha (2010)
    • Fundamental Concepts of Bioinformatics by Krane and Reymer (2006)

What is Bioinformatics?

  • Combination of biology and informatics.
  • Central role in analyzing biological data using computational methods.
  • Historical note: Term coined by Paulien Hogeweg in 1979.

Contributing Fields

  • Computer Science: Algorithms, machine learning for data extraction and prediction.
  • Mathematics: Statistical techniques, correlation analysis, Ramachandran plot for protein structures.
  • Information Technology: Large-scale data analysis, online resources, and computer storage.
  • Physics: Understanding protein folding via electrostatic, van der Waals, and hydrophobic interactions.
  • Life Sciences: Source of data from biological experiments (DNA sequences, protein structures, expression profiles, pathways).

Importance of Data

  • Essential for Bioinformatics applications.
  • Data acquisition from biological experiments is critical.

Bioinformatics Applications

1. Organized Databases

  • Collection and organization of biological data for easy access and analysis.

2. Hypothesis Development

  • Deriving hypotheses from organized data linking features and functions of biological systems.

3. Algorithm Development

  • Creating algorithms to relate features to functions using computational methods.
  • Development of web servers and online applications for public use.

4. Virtual Screening

  • Vital for drug design and development.
  • Example: Structure-based drug design for colorectal cancer via c-Yes Kinase.
  • Bioinformatics helps reduce number of potential compounds for drugs, saving time and resources.

5. Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)

  • Applications in personalized medicine.
  • Analyzing differences in genomes and proteomes between healthy individuals and patients with diseases.
  • Extracting information from sequences to understand mutations and their effects.

Conclusion

  • Bioinformatics is crucial across various domains in human health and medicine.
  • Future lectures will delve deeper into specific applications like drug design and protein structure prediction.

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