Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics uses mathematics, statistics and computer science to analyse complex biological systems.

A single cell contains thousands of molecules that are essential to the healthy functioning and development of the cell. Changes in these molecules can influence how cells behave. Certain changes within cells underpin disease formation.

Current medical research technologies can generate vast amounts of complex data, for example by simultaneously analysing the intricate sequence of the three billion DNA bases in the human genome.

Bioinformatics develops new ways to analyse this data, to understand more fully what is occurring in complex biological systems.

Bioinformatics analyses give researchers new insights into how molecules behave within cells, and how cells interact or change in disease.

To study the role of different molecules in cells, and how changes cause disease, our researchers use a range of experimental techniques. Their aims include:

• Revealing and analysing the genome of diseased cells or infectious agents to understand how they cause disease, and how they might be treated.
• Uncovering the changes that convert a healthy cell into a diseased cell.
• Discovering genetic variants shared within families or populations that confer susceptibility to a particular disease.
• Simultaneously measuring variations in genes being switched on or off (gene expression), and aligning this with other changes within cells or tissues.
• Detecting how a treatment influences the behaviour of cells.

The experiments that measure these can generate huge amounts of data. Our bioinformatics researchers develop appropriate methods that enable the in-depth analysis and interpretation of these data.

Bioinformatics analyses can provide new insights into the roles of particular molecules within cells, and how these molecules vary between people. This is uncovering the molecular causes of many diseases. In some cases, bioinformatics research can also pinpoint new strategies for diagnosing or treating diseases.

Bioinformatics is an important aspect of personalised medicine, which matches individual patients with the best treatment for their disease.

Bioinformatics research relies heavily on computational and statistical strategies to analyse and interpret huge data sets. Many of our bioinformatics researchers have been trained in mathematics, statistics and computer science. This allows them to develop new ways to address complex research problems presented through their collaborations with other researchers.