BNFO 301 |
Course at a Glance: Plausibly Asked Questions |
Spring 2005
|
Questions What about me? I don't know anything about computer programming! What about me? I don't know anything about molecular biology! What
about ME? I DO know {molecular biology|computer programming}.
What is bioinformatics anyway? Answers Furthermore, the language evolves according to user's needs. It tries to hold to the principle that simple biological concepts should be expressed in simple ways. Needless to say it is sometimes fiendishly difficult to explain to a dumb computer something that is perfectly apparent to a human. When a user encounters a concept that is not easily rendered in the language, the BioLingua Help Desk will attempt to implement an easy short cut.
What
about me? I don't know anything about molecular biology! What
about ME? I DO know {molecular biology | computer programming}.
What is bioinformatics anyway? The application of information technology to the study of biological problemsor (equivalently in my opinion): The analysis and rationalization of biological information on a grand scaleBiological problems include understanding the behavior of a cell, the progress of a disease, or the functioning of an ecosystem. Information technology include the tools that have been developed to analyze and manipulate large data sets, such as genomic sequences, determination of levels of RNA transcripts or proteins, and enzymatic activities. Data may be approached from the top down, parsing and analyzing the huge amount of data to produce quantities that we can more easily grasp, or from the bottom up, combining derived quantities according to a model to try to recreate a complex part of reality. |