Sequence analysis

Abstract

Nucleic acids and proteins are key macromolecules responsible for the correct functioning of every single living organism. These molecules are biopolymers, characterized by their primary structure, which is determined by sequencing methods. This primary structure encodes clues to understanding how the nucleic acids and proteins function. Deoxyribonucleotide (DNA) and ribonucleotide (RNA) are made up of nucleotide monomers, while proteins are polymers of amino acids. DNA provides instructions for building a protein, RNA serves as a messenger between the DNA and the protein, and proteins in turn are responsible for carrying out nearly every task in an organism’s life. The analysis of nucleotide and protein sequence data is a complicated task, requiring comprehensive bioinformatics approaches, sophisticated computational tools and smart databases.