Skip to main content

What Are Bioinformatics Tools?

Bioinformatics requires the use of complex programs written by computer scientists, which many biologists don't need to fully understand to effectively use these programs. These programs are referred to as "tools" since numerous tools are usually used to modify, align, and assemble genomes.

A scientist refers to the collective knowledge of calling programs, their toolbox, which allows them to work on the certain files with certain tools. This is analogous to any toolbox and the use of these tools is usually intuitive with the file name.  For example, the use of SAM (Sequence Alignment/Map) Tools, will utilize files with the extension .SAM; however, it can also utilize a similar .BAM file as well. This tool is mainly used for evaluating and visualizing aligned reads and identifying any differences between the sample and reference genome available. A simple and more detailed work flow are shown below:

Typical Next-Generation Sequencing Workflow.
This is a broad overview of how SAMtools can be used in genomics and the goals of using this tool. Source:http://biobits.org/samtools_primer.html
Tutorial Workflow.
This work flow shows the use of numerous tools that gives a more detailed picture of what is happening. Furthermore, this workflow begins after step #2 of the above workflow and utilizes a reference genome to align the reads. Source:http://biobits.org/samtools_primer.html

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Forging a New Frontier in Cannabis

Forging a New Frontier in Cannabis Written By: Christopher Pauli Our lives depend on plants, for food, clothes and beauty. And there are so many mysteries to explore. For instance: Why can a plant produce both male and female flowers when it appears genetically to be female? Can we determine the tissue-specific gene expression profiles of any organism? The Agricultural Genomics Foundation sponsors a research project at the University of Colorado Boulder that focuses on transcriptomics, or the study of RNA, the next genetic frontier for the Cannabis plant. With numerous transcriptomes sequenced, AGF is aiming to expand upon its previous work in the genome to include RNA data that will help us better understand how gene expression controls the plant. The genes expressed are called RNA, or ribonucleic acid, which collectively referred to as the transcriptome. By comparing the differences between these transcriptomes in different areas on the plant, we can unders

Support Cannabis Research Simply Through Shopping on Amazon

Hey everyone, If you could take a second to sign up for smile.amazon.com to support the Agricultural Genomics Foundation that supports the Cannabis Genomic Research Initiative that focuses on mapping the Cannabis genome to guide breeding, understand the history, and develop the molecular and genetic tests of the future!