Bioinformatics is a computational and analytical technique that applies algorithms, statistical methods, and database technologies to the acquisition, storage, processing, and interpretation of biological data, particularly large-scale omics datasets such as genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes. It encompasses sequence alignment, gene prediction, variant calling, structural modeling, functional annotation, and systems-level network analysis. Bioinformatics pipelines integrate heterogeneous data types, automate quality control, and support reproducible research through workflow management and version-controlled code. As a technique, it enables hypothesis generation, biomarker discovery, and rational design in fields including molecular biology, genomics, pharmacology, and systems biology by transforming raw high-throughput experimental outputs into interpretable, quantitative biological insight.
In a new study of viral abundance over a short time frame in the Sargasso Sea, researchers found that almost all viruses with cyclical changes in abundance were most active at night—somewhat surprising when the team expected ...
Ecology
Mar 31, 2026
0
15
While RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has become a standard tool for profiling which genes are active in an organism, determining the actual biological functions of those genes in fungi remains a significant technical challenge. ...
Ecology
Mar 31, 2026
0
7
Desperate to help his sick dog, one Australian man went down the ultimate ChatGPT research hole, using artificial intelligence to design a personalized experimental treatment and finding top scientists to administer it.
Veterinary medicine
Mar 30, 2026
0
23
For more than 40 years, the Golden State Killer haunted California. A serial rapist and murderer active in the 1970s and '80s, he eluded detectives for decades. By 2018, hope of identifying him was fading, until a woman—curious ...
Biotechnology
Mar 29, 2026
0
88
In their landmark 1961 paper on the lac operon, Nobel laureates François Jacob and Jacques Monod speculated that RNA might control gene activity in bacteria through base-pairing interactions. But once protein transcription ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 28, 2026
0
246
Museum collections have underpinned scientific research for centuries. But physical specimens in boxes and drawers don't easily lend themselves to the research techniques of the new millennium. "How can we apply these techniques ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 27, 2026
0
26
Understanding gene expression within the body has been a boon for 21st century biology and therapeutics, but most discoveries that use these technologies only focus on one organ or one small area of tissue. At the University ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 27, 2026
0
29
For many people, "protein" is the key element of a food order. However, beyond the preferred choice of meats or plant-based alternatives, proteins encompass a large class of complex biomolecules whose chemical structure is ...
Biotechnology
Mar 27, 2026
0
45
PathogenFinder2 is a new AI tool developed by researchers at DTU in Denmark, in collaboration with international partners, to determine whether an unfamiliar bacterium possesses genetic characteristics associated with the ...
Biotechnology
Mar 26, 2026
0
12
In the game of survival, you can't always go it alone. Tiny algae living in the harsh conditions of the world's polar oceans appear to be better able to withstand the cold, high salinity, and extreme UV radiation, thanks ...
