1. Research Paper on BioInformatics

2. What is BioInformatics?
The use of technology in collecting and analyzing genetic information.
Ex. deCODE genetics
Maintains a genetic database of information from every resident in Iceland

3. GenBank (NCBI)
Large quantities of genetic information are stored in genetic databases such as the GenBank
These are billions of nucleotides sequences compiled together from a population

4. Annotation
The analysis of the information being stored in the databases
Without analysis, the stored information has no value
BLAST

5. What is BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool)?
A software which locates specific genes from a very large database of information using already identified genetic sequences
Uses a similarity index
(Sum of identical sequences/total number of sequences)

6. Focus: The mechanism of BLAST
I will focus heavily on the computing algorithm used by the BLAST software to identify key genetic sequences from a very large database of random nucleotide sequences
I will research how popular/ influential BLAST is in the genetic research community vs. other methods
Thus, I will briefly compare BLAST with other methods of analyzing genetic sequences
Analysis of Human Genome is key to finding cures to diseases and also to better understand epigenetics

7. Presentation/Challenges
Will present my findings on BLAST and its influence on the field of genetics
Challenges: I don’t have a strong background in CS.