Bioinformatics Chapter 20 Exam Questions with Verified Solutions Graded A+

Bioinformatics Chapter 20 Exam Questions with Verified Solutions Graded A+ Bioinformatics - Answers Computational Biology or the field of science in which biology, computer science and information technology merge to form a single discipline. - makes use of fundamental aspects of computer science (such as databases and artificial intelligence) to develop algorithms for facilitating the development and testing of biological hypotheses -Finding genes of various organisms -Predicting structure or function of newly developed proteins -Developing protein models and examining evolutionary relationships Transformational Bioinformatics: - Answers Simply put, is the specialization of bioinformatics for human health Genomics - Answers is the field that analyzes genetic material from a species Proteomics - Answers is the study at the level of proteins (e.g., through gene expression) Pharmacogenomics - Answers is the study of genetic material in relationship with drug targets MetabolomicS - Answers Is the study of genes, proteins or metabolites Computer scientists - Answers (+Mathematicians, Statisticians, etc.) Develop tools, softwares, algorithms to store and analyze the data. Biologists - Answers collect molecular data: DNA & Protein sequences, gene expression, etc. Bioinformaticians - Answers Study biological questions by analyzing molecular data Metagenomics - Answers is the analysis of genetic material derived from complete microbial communities harvested from natural environments A phenotype - Answers is the observable characteristic, structure, function and behavior of a living organism. Size and hair color could be examples. Phenotype is strongly guided by the genotype. The Phenome refers to total phenotypic traits Genotype - Answers is based on the raw genetic information that is associated with a phenotype or regulation of biological function. The genome is the total of genotypic traits (SNPs) (pronounced "snips") - Answers Variations in genomes between individuals are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms Genome-wide associations studies (GWASs) - Answers are being conducted where two groups of participants are studied; those with a disease of interest, compared with those without the disease. The variations or SNPs discovered are said to be associated with the disease, but true cause and effect is often unclear phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) - Answers are being carried out comparing genes to disease associations, most recently using the electronic health record for phenotypical information IMPORTANCE OF BIOINFORMATICS - Answers Diagnosing hereditary diseases Discovering future drugs targets Developing personalized drugs based on genetic profiles (personalized medicine) Developing gene therapies to treat diseases with a strong genomic component (e.g. cancer) importance of pharmocogenics - Answers Discover: New indications for an old drug (drug repurposing) New targets for existing drugs (e.g., treatment of tongue cancer using RET inhibitors) Drugs to work better in certain patient groups (gender, age, race, ethnicity, etc.) with possible genetic variants What drugs to avoid due to higher incidence of side effects that are genetically modulated Improve clinical decision support for electronic health records human genome project - Answers International collaborative project started in 1990 and finished in 2003 3 million SNPs discovered Ethical, legal and social issues also discussed Huge relational databases are necessary to store and retrieve this massive information