Overview

This tutorial was composed serves as an introduction to students in the Informatics Institute's Fundamentals of Bioinformatics (FBI).

• If you are an instructor and are using these materials for your course, we'll appreciate your crediting the Bioinformatics Program at UMDNJ.

In this workshop you will:

• Get an overview of the databases and tools available through the National Centers for Biotechnology Information, NCBI.
• Learn about the biology and molecular genetics of an important set of proteins that govern infection by the influenza virus.
• Use this example to retrieve sequences and structures from NCBI.

This tutorial presumes that you are comfortable with basic biochemistry and molecular biology.

NCBI, The Institution

The National Center for Biotechnology Information was established in 1988. It creates public databases and develops tools to access these data. One of the exciting things about being involved in Bioinformatics is that things change frequently. NCBI is no exception; it is a change leader. If, therefore, you discover that a link seems not to work or a page seems not to look like what you expect... well, change happens, and probably has happened since this page was last edited.

After looking quickly at the the questions below, take ten minutes to look at About NCBI and what NCBI claims bioinformatics is all about.

Questions for Discussion in Class

1. According to NCBI, what characterizes "Bioinformatics?"
2. What is Entrez?
3. Describe the databases that are supported by Entrez. Where did you come by this information?
4. NCBI publishes an online (and free print) newsletter, "NCBI News." Pick one topic from the most current issue and be prepared to explain it (or ask clarifying questions about it.)
5. Make a list of the terms you don't understand or are not certain about. We'll try to clarify them in class.

NEXT: Databases

Page last updated January 30, 2006.