Provides tips for using servers and places to seek resources to find out about what's going on in the bioinformatics world. This book helps you: analyze all types of sequences; use all types of databases; work with DNA and protein sequences; conduct similarity searches; build a multiple sequence alignment; and edit and publish alignments.

Search databases and analyze sequences like a pro

Get the most out of your PC and the Web with the right tools

Explore the human genome and analyze DNA — without leaving your desktop! All it takes is the basics of molecular biology and the wealth of information in this friendly guide. You'll discover the online tools and useful tips you need to ask the right questions, analyze sequences, and compare results. It's a plain-English introduction to the field!

Discover how to

• Do biological research online
• Use gene-centric databases
• Visualize proteins in 3-D
• Interpret and analyze sequences
• Produce and publish results

Were you always curious about biology but were afraid to sit through long hours of dense reading? Did you like the subject when you were in high school but had other plans after you graduated? Now you can explore the human genome and analyze DNA without ever leaving your desktop!

Bioinformatics For Dummies is packed with valuable information that introduces you to this exciting new discipline. This easy-to-follow guide leads you step by step through every bioinformatics task that can be done over the Internet. Forget long equations, computer-geek gibberish, and installing bulky programs that slow down your computer. You’ll be amazed at all the things you can accomplish just by logging on and following these trusty directions. You get the tools you need to:

• Analyze all types of sequences
• Use all types of databases
• Work with DNA and protein sequences
• Conduct similarity searches
• Build a multiple sequence alignment
• Edit and publish alignments
• Visualize protein 3-D structures
• Construct phylogenetic trees

This up-to-date second edition includes newly created and popular databases and Internet programs as well as multiple new genomes. It provides tips for using servers and places to seek resources to find out about what’s going on in the bioinformatics world. Bioinformatics For Dummies will show you how to get the most out of your PC and the right Web tools so you'll be searching databases and analyzing sequences like a pro!