Welcome to the Bioinformatics Group

Scientists have recently developed tools to probe the inner workings of living cells. Technologies that obtain sequence information from DNA and protein molecules work in conjunction with tools such as X-ray devices and nuclear magnetic resonance machines to reveal the three-dimensional conformation of these molecules. More recent technologies, such as DNA micro arrays, strive to investigate the interactions between the various proteins and genes within a cell. The result of these investigations is the production of huge amounts of data.

The objective of bioinformatics is to store, retrieve, manipulate, visualize, analyze, integrate and interpret data from these data sources so we can fully understand the vast array of processes that occur in living cells. Understanding the disease pathway is essential to treat the 5,000 or so genetic diseases as well as the many communicable diseases. Applications of this knowledge include drug design and medical diagnostic procedures.