Data Mining is used to discover patterns and relation-ships in data, with an emphasis on large observational data bases. Despite the obvious connections between data mining and statistical data analysis, most of the methodologies used in Data Mining have so far originated in elds other than Statistics.

A Phylogenetic tree or Phylogram, sometimes called the ‘Tree of Life’, shows the evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities that are believed to have a common ancestor. Each node with descendants represents the most recent common ancestor of the descendants, with edge lengths in our tree, corresponding to time estimates. Each node in a phylogenetic tree is called a taxonomic unit.

A 2D array, typically on a glass, filter, or silicon wafer, upon which genes or gene fragments are deposited or synthesized in a predetermined spatial order allowing them to be made available as probes in a high-throughput, parallel manner.

Proteomics includes not only the identification and quantification of proteins, but also the determination of their localization, modifications, interactions, activities, and, ultimately, their function. Initially encompassing just two- dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis for protein separation and identification, proteomics now refers to any procedure that characterizes large sets of proteins.

Genome projects are scientific endeavours that aim to map the genome of a living being or of a species (be it an animal, a plant, a fungus, a bacterium, an archaean, a protist or a virus), that is, the complete set of genes caried by this living being or virus.

These days, computers are an integral part of genomics-based drug discovery, helping researchers find drug targets by comparing databases of genomic information with annotations about functional information, by analyzing the data that comes in from various wetlab experiments, and by simply keeping track of the huge amounts of biological data being unearthed in life sciences research. This is the role of bioinformatics, a field that has exploded in importance over the last few years as companies have begun to realize they are drowning in raw data.

In recent years, we have seen an explosion in the amount of biological information that is available. Various databases are doubling in size every 15 months and we now have the complete genome sequences of more than 100 organisms. It appears that the ability to generate vast quantities of data has surpassed the ability to use this data meaningfully.

Sequence analysis is the application of Information Technologies to Molecular Biology. It deals with biological sequences, and processes them to extract significant information that may yield new insights and guidelines in the understanding of biological organisms

cDNA maps: Shows the locations of expressed DNA regions (exons) on the chromosomal map. Because they represent expressed genomic regions, cDNAs are thought to identify the parts of the genome with the most biological and medical significance.

Neural net

A neural net is an interconnected assembly of simple processing elements, units or nodes, whose functionality is loosely based on the animal brain. The processing ability of the network is stored in the inter-unit connection strengths, or weights, obtained by a process of adaptation to, or learning from, a set of training patterns.