An Introduction to Bioinformatics

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate how to obtain information on DNA and protein sequences from databases. This is most conveniently achieved using a Web browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer). This chapter is loosely based on a course given by the author at the University of Hertfordshire from a set of Web pages that facilitate Internet navigation by using hyperlinks and allow sequences to be copied from the Web page and pasted into the relevant search engine. (The online version of this information can be found at http://www.herts.ac.uk/natsci/Bio/informatics.htm..)

Many simple queries about protein and DNA sequences can now be answered using a Web browser. The purpose of this chapter is to give you a flavor of the sorts of things which are now possible, but first it is necessary to explain some of the jargon. If you know all about the World Wide Web (WWW or “the Web”), URLs, and hyperlinks then you can bypass the introductory information.