Comparison of biosequences

Abstract

Homology and distance measures have been routinely used to compare two biological sequences, such as proteins or nucleic acids. The homology measure of Needleman and Wunsch is shown, under general conditions, to be equivalent to the distance measure of Sellers. A new algorithm is given to find similar pairs of segments, one segment from each sequence. The new algorithm, based on homology measures, is compared to an earlier one due to Sellers. © 1981.