Sequence similarity is a powerful tool for discovering biological function. Just as the ancient Greeks used comparative anatomy to understand the human body and linguists used the Rosetta stone to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs, today we can use comparative sequence analysis to understand genomes. BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool), is a sophisticated software package for rapid searching of nucleotide and protein databases. It is one of the most important software packages used in sequence analysis and bioinformatics. Most users of BLAST, however, seldom move beyond the program's default parameters, and never take advantage of its full power. BLAST is the only book completely devoted to this popular suite of tools. It offers biologists, computational biology students, and bioinformatics professionals a clear understanding of BLAST as well as the science it supports. This book shows you how to move beyond the default parameters, get specific answers using BLAST, and how to interpret your results. The book also contains tutorial and reference sections covering NCBI-BLAST and WU-BLAST, background material to help you understand the statistics behind BLAST, Perl scripts to help you prepare your data and analyze your results, and a wealth of tips and tricks for configuring BLAST to meet your own research needs. Some of the topics covered include: BLAST basics and the NCBI web interface How to select appropriate search parameters BLAST programs: BLASTN, BLASTP, BLASTX, TBLASTN, TBLASTX, PHI-BLAST, and PSI BLAST Detailed BLAST references, including NCBI-BLAST and WU-BLAST Understanding biological sequences Sequence similarity, homology, scoring matrices, scores, and evolution Sequence Alignment Calculating BLAST statistics Industrial-strength BLAST, including developing applications with Perl and BLAST BLAST is the only comprehensive reference with detailed, accurate information on optimizing BLAST searches for high-throughput sequence analysis. This is a book that any biologist should own.

Bringing the power of virtual instrumentation to the biomedical community. Applications across diverse medical specialties Detailed design guides for LabVIEW and BioBench applications Hands-on problem-solving throughout the book Laboratory, clinical, and healthcare applications Numerous VI's with source code, plus several demos, are available on the book's web site Virtual instrumentation allows medical researchers and practitioners to combine the traditional diagnostic tools with advanced technologies such as databases, Active X, and the Internet. In both laboratory and clinical environments, users can interact with a wealth of disparate systems, facilitating better, faster, and more informed decision making. Virtual Bio-Instrumentation: Biomedical, Clinical, and Healthcare Applications in LabVIEW is the first book of its kind to apply VI technology to the biomedical field. Hands-on problems throughout the book demonstrate immediate practical uses Examples cover a variety of medical specialties Detailed design instructions give the inside view of LabVIEW and BioBench applications Both students and practicing professionals will appreciate the practical applications offered for modeling fundamental physiology, advanced systems analysis, medical device development and testing, and even hospital management and clinical engineering scenarios.

Bioinformatics--the application of computational and analytical methods to biological problems--is a rapidly evolving scientific discipline. Genome sequencing projects are producing vast amounts of biological data for many different organisms, and, increasingly, storing these data in public databases. Such biological databases are growing exponentially, along with the biological literature. It's impossible for even the most zealous researcher to stay on top of necessary information in the field without the aid of computer-based tools. Bioinformatics is all about building these tools. Developing Bioinformatics Computer Skills is for scientists and students who are learning computational approaches to biology for the first time, as well as for experienced biology researchers who are just starting to use computers to handle their data. The book covers the Unix file system, building tools and databases for bioinformatics, computational approaches to biological problems, an introduction to Perl for bioinformatics, data mining, and data visualization. Written in a clear, engaging style, Developing Bioinformatics Computer Skills will help biologists develop a structured approach to biological data as well as the tools they'll need to analyze the data.