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!

Previous ed.:2003.

Includes index.

Introduction -- PART I: GETTING STARTED IN BIOINFORMATICS: Finding out what bioinformatics can do for you -- How most people use bioinformatics -- PART II: A SURVIVAL GUIDE TO BIOINFORMATICS: Using nucleotide sequence databases -- Using protein and specialized sequence databases -- Working with a single DNA sequence -- Working with a single protein sequence -- PART III: BECOMING A PRO IN SEQUENCE ANALYSIS: Similarity searches on sequence databases -- Comparing two sequences -- Building a multiple sequence alignment -- Editing and publishing alignments -- PART IV: BECOMING A SPECIALIST: ADVANCED BIOINFORMATICS TECHNIQUES: Working with protein 3-D structures -- Working with RNA -- Building phytogenetic trees -- PART V: THE PART OF TENS: The ten (okay, twelve) commandments for using servers -- Some useful bioinformatics resources.