Article written by CEMP's team
Advances in Molecular Biology, the discovery of DNA… Bioinformatics have played a key role in these developments. A field that, since then, has demonstrated computing can be not only useful for work, but also our health. Today, the concept has evolved towards new and unexpected biological applications. What is bioinformatics, then? Find out here!
To those unfamiliar with science, the word might serve as a clue. Biology and informatics walk hand in hand in this new area because, even considering precedent technologies, they have evolved as networks evolved too.
When we consider the question “what is bioinformatics”, we refer to a discipline focused on the use of computing to deal with biological data. These techniques facilitate medical investigations and allow for certain health applications, improving or even saving people’s lives.
Briefly put, we could say that this discipline is about applying Big Data to biological information to get to know it in a deep sense and discover solutions to problems. For instance, bioinformatics can thus deal with the data produced by metabolic, genomic or proteomic technologies. It can also be applied to information obtained through epidemiologic investigations or clinical databases.
Human beings are at the center of the goals of bioinformatics. In the current world, data has proven to be a powerful source of information and, if there’s an area where this power should not be underestimated, it’s in health sciences.
Computing, its languages and its technologies allow us to collect data, but also process it. Bioinformatics keep and analyze biological figures related to living beings and can reach conclusions about them by applying mathematical models.
The main goals of this scientific field include the following:
We’re surrounded by data and everyday we produce more of it. Bioinformatics convert this enormous volume of information into something useful by storing and extracting relevant figures so that researchers can work with them.
In order to do so, this discipline creates databases where biological data can be stores. These “archives” are highly useful and are normally accessible through the Internet for experts to employ them.
Many times, a database can be similar to a skein of tangled yarn. In order to be able to use it, first you must untangle it.
This is what bioinformatics does with data in containers. This discipline develops tools for data analysis with mathematical algorithms in order to find patterns and extract answers of what, up until now, was just an unending column of data in an Excel file.
The next step is to act accordingly to the results. Research is the essence of what is bioinformatics. Once comparisons have been made, similitudes have been found and massive sequencing finished, conclusions can be obtained, allowing for a better knowledge of biological systems. This knowledge can then be used, for instance, to develop medicines or describe in detail the genome of new organisms.
Within bioinformatics, computational sciences play a key role. Informatics is the field within engineering that encompasses hardware, networks and software for the processing of information, all of which are immensely useful for biology.
This discipline has grown to become a huge revolution for human communication systems. This is also true for entertainment purposes or even the building of infrastructures, as shown by the Internet of Things and Smart Cities.
This field includes two big elements: hardware or the physical part (such as computers) and software or programs. As time went by, these stopped being the only specializations within this discipline, which joined others to give birth to concepts such as Information Technologies, applied to the business sector, or bioinformatics, our subject in this article.
When did people start asking themselves “what is bioinformatics”? This occured in the 1950s, when the field was particularly focused on computational biology.
At the time, computing applications were used to analyze protein and DNA sequences. This molecule in particular, each living being’s genetic ID, shaped the early stages of this discipline.
Biologists James Dewey Jackson and Francis Harry Compton Crick discovered the double helix in DNA’s chemical structure. Later, halfway through the decade, British expert Frederick Sanger made use of bioinformatics to sequence the first protein, bovine insulin.
During those early years there were also feminine names, such as Margaret Dayghoff. In the 60s, she developed the outline for systematization Atlas of protein sequence and structure, a vital support for current investigations.
The birth of ARPANET (a forerunner to the current version of the Internet) was decisive in building the current importance of bioinformatics. Only two years after its invention, the Protein Data Bank was created, a pioneer within electronic storage systems.
As time went by, the way in which this discipline was seen also changed. The beginning of this transformation took place in the 1980s, when a multitude of algorithms such as FASTA were developed and the Human Genome Project was initiated.
The creation of new programs and databases was the main focus during those years, which led to a new, more research-based perspective during the 1990s, and ended up turning into a scientific discipline on its own.
During those years, computation started being used to search for links between mutations or figure out more about the evolution of organisms.
In the first decade of the new Millenium, a number of milestones were reached, such as the complete sequencing of the human genome, as well as that of cat’s and chimpanzée’s. The National Institute of Bioinformatics was born and the first draft of the human proteome was published.
We’ve learned the answer to “what is bioinformatics” but, how is it applied? What tangible results can we extract from this discipline?
This is a field where a multitude of useful possibilities exist, and where new advantages are revealed every decade. These are some of this field’s applications:
Although the history of bioinformatics goes back a few decades, everything seems to signal that this scientific discipline’s history has just started. The answer to “what is bioinformatics” will probably continue evolving in the coming years thanks to the work of thousands of professionals.
In order to become one of them, it’s necessary to live between biology, programming and mathematics. It’s vital to have a good scientific base and analytical capacity that allows you to unfold huge volumes of data.
As bioinformatics stand at the center between biology and informatics, you will also need knowledge in computational languages such as Python, the development of algorithms and the main omics. Statistics will be the main foundation for you to develop your career in one of the most futuristic fields in the current market, as well as one of the most useful.
A good way to acquire these very specific skills is by joining our Master’s degree in Biostatistics and Bioinformatics. At CEMP, we offer a training program taught by computer specialists, biochemists and experts in biotechnology and molecular sciences.
Our teaching team is exceptionally qualified to guide you in your new path in this career. Besides, you’ll be able to start your professional network thanks to carrying out an internship in a company as part of your master’s.
If you’ve grown to be fascinated by bioinformatics, we guarantee that getting trained in the field will only help feed that fire. Get trained and be one of the professionals finding the answers of the future!
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