Presents algorithmic techniques for solving problems in bioinformatics, including applications that shed new light on molecular biology This book introduces algorithmic techniques in bioinformatics, emphasizing their application to solving novel problems in post-genomic molecular biology. Beginning with a thought-provoking discussion on the role of algorithms in twenty-first-century bioinformatics education, Bioinformatics Algorithms covers: General algorithmic techniques, including dynamic programming, graph-theoretical methods, hidden Markov models, the fast Fourier transform, seeding, and approximation algorithms Algorithms and tools for genome and sequence analysis, including formal and approximate models for gene clusters, advanced algorithms for non-overlapping local alignments and genome tilings, multiplex PCR primer set selection, and sequence/network motif finding Microarray design and analysis, including algorithms for microarray physical design, missing value imputation, and meta-analysis of gene expression data Algorithmic issues arising in the analysis of genetic variation across human population, including computational inference of haplotypes from genotype data and disease association search in case/control epidemiologic studies Algorithmic approaches in structural and systems biology, including topological and structural classification in biochemistry, and prediction of protein-protein and domain-domain interactions Each chapter begins with a self-contained introduction to a computational problem; continues with a brief review of the existing literature on the subject and an in-depth description of recent algorithmic and methodological developments; and concludes with a brief experimental study and a discussion of open research challenges. This clear and approachable presentation makes the book appropriate for researchers, practitioners, and graduate students alike.

Polarity is a physico-chemical property that characterizes the electromagnetic stability of a protein and can be used to predict its plausible pathogenic action. For this reason, polarity is regarded as a major factor in most mathematical-computational algorithms that seek to characterize peptides and proteins. The Polarity Index Method makes it possible to reproduce the main classification of peptide proteins found in different databases, with a high degree of discriminative efficiency. Polarity Index In Proteins is a brief monograph that explains the foundations of the polarity index method and presents examples of the application of this method for identifying the structural and functional relationships of different types of proteins (including cell penetrating peptides and natively unfolded proteins). The monograph is divided into sections that cover basic protein biochemistry, the computational mathematical foundations of the polarity index method, the application of the method on different protein structures, and the evaluation of the results of famous experiments on biogenesis (Miller & Urey, Fox & Harada, Rode) by the same method. Polarity Index In Proteins serves as an essential handbook for students and researchers in the field of bioinformatics, proteomics as well as for studies on the role of proteins in the origin of life.

The growth in the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology fields over the last few years has been remarkable and the trend is to increase its pace. In fact, the need for computational techniques that can efficiently handle the huge amounts of data produced by the new experimental techniques in Biology is still increasing driven by new advances in Next Generation Sequencing, several types of the so called omics data and image acquisition, just to name a few. The analysis of the datasets that produces and its integration call for new algorithms and approaches from fields such as Databases, Statistics, Data Mining, Machine Learning, Optimization, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Within this scenario of increasing data availability, Systems Biology has also been emerging as an alternative to the reductionist view that dominated biological research in the last decades. Indeed, Biology is more and more a science of information requiring tools from the computational sciences. In the last few years, we have seen the surge of a new generation of interdisciplinary scientists that have a strong background in the biological and computational sciences. In this context, the interaction of researchers from different scientific fields is, more than ever, of foremost importance boosting the research efforts in the field and contributing to the education of a new generation of Bioinformatics scientists. PACBB‘11 hopes to contribute to this effort promoting this fruitful interaction. PACBB'11 technical program included 50 papers from a submission pool of 78 papers spanning many different sub-fields in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. Therefore, the conference will certainly have promoted the interaction of scientists from diverse research groups and with a distinct background (computer scientists, mathematicians, biologists). The scientific content will certainly be challenging and will promote the improvement of the work that is being developed by each of the participants.

Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of biotechnology, this book covers the role of targeted delivery of polymeric nanodrugs to cancer cells, microbial detoxifying enzymes in bioremediation and bacterial plasmids in antimicrobial resistance. It addresses modern trends such as pharmacogenomics, evaluation of gene expression, recombinant proteins from methylotrophic yeast, identification of novel fermentation inhibitors of bioethanol production, and polyhydroxyalkanoate based biomaterials. The book highlights the practical utility of biotechnology and bioinformatics for bioenergy, production of high value biochemicals, modeling molecular interactions, drug discovery, and personalized medicine.

Thoroughly revised and updated, Exploring Bioinformatics: A Project-Based Approach, Second Edition is intended for an introductory course in bioinformatics at the undergraduate level. Through hands-on projects, students are introduced to current biological problems and then explore and develop bioinformatic solutions to these issues. Each chapter presents a key problem, provides basic biological concepts, introduces computational techniques to address the problem, and guides students through the use of existing web-based tools and software solutions. This progression prepares students to tackle the On-Your-Own Project, where they develop their own software solutions. Topics such as antibiotic resistance, genetic disease, and genome sequencing provide context and relevance to capture student interest.

New sequencing technologies have broken many experimental barriers to genome scale sequencing, leading to the extraction of huge quantities of sequence data. This expansion of biological databases established the need for new ways to harness and apply the astounding amount of available genomic information and convert it into substantive biological

The computational education of biologists is changing to prepare students for facing the complex datasets of today's life science research. In this concise textbook, the authors' fresh pedagogical approaches lead biology students from first principles towards computational thinking. A team of renowned bioinformaticians take innovative routes to introduce computational ideas in the context of real biological problems. Intuitive explanations promote deep understanding, using little mathematical formalism. Self-contained chapters show how computational procedures are developed and applied to central topics in bioinformatics and genomics, such as the genetic basis of disease, genome evolution or the tree of life concept. Using bioinformatic resources requires a basic understanding of what bioinformatics is and what it can do. Rather than just presenting tools, the authors - each a leading scientist - engage the students' problem-solving skills, preparing them to meet the computational challenges of their life science careers.

Issues in Bioengineering and Bioinformatics: 2011 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ eBook that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Bioengineering and Bioinformatics. The editors have built Issues in Bioengineering and Bioinformatics: 2011 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Bioengineering and Bioinformatics in this eBook to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Bioengineering and Bioinformatics: 2011 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

This innovative book provides a completely fresh exploration of bioinformatics, investigating its complex interrelationship with biology and computer science. It approaches bioinformatics from a unique perspective, highlighting interdisciplinary gaps that often trap the unwary. The book considers how the need for biological databases drove the evolution of bioinformatics; it reviews bioinformatics basics (including database formats, data-types and current analysis methods), and examines key topics in computer science (including data-structures, identifiers and algorithms), reflecting on their use and abuse in bioinformatics. Bringing these disciplines together, this book is an essential read for those who wish to better understand the challenges for bioinformatics at the interface of biology and computer science, and how to bridge the gaps. It will be an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, and for lecturers, researchers and professionals with an interest in this fascinating, fast-moving discipline and the knotty problems that surround it.