Biological databases serve a critical purpose in the collation and organization of data related to biological systems. They provide computational support and a user-friendly interface to a researcher for meaningful analysis of biological data viz., gene and protein sequences, molecular structures, etc. In the recent past, computational tools and techniques have also been successfully used for simulation studies on biological macromolecules, their structures and interactions, molecular modeling and drug design accumulating significant amount of data in these interdisciplinary areas which would be dealt with separately in later units of this paper.
This section would provide a brief overview of different types/categories of databases. It would however, avoid detailed descriptions that can be accessed from several standard Bioinformatics textbooks or from the home pages of various databases. A few practice exercises for access and retrieval of information are provided at the end of the unit. Some of these exercises would be supported with step-by-step instructions for the benefit of beginners while others are to be completed by students on their own.
Questions: How would I know whether a database relevant to my interest/study exists or not? How can I be assured of the authenticity of the information available in any database? Answer: The journal, Nucleic Acids Research (NAR), publishes in its January issue every year, a comprehensive compilation of all peer-reviewed databases and online tools. These issues can be accessed at http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/. The peer review process ensures that the published literature and its contents are accurate. |
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