Understanding the BLAST (Basic local alignment search tool) Program and a step-by-step guide for its use in life science research Samal Kailash Chandra*, Sahoo Jyoti Prakash, Behera Laxmipreeya, Dash Trupti Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751 003, Odisha, India *Corresponding author's E-mail: samalkcouat@gmail.com
Online published on 4 September, 2021. Abstract Bioinformatics is the new branch of science which deals with the acquisition, storage, analysis and dissemination of biological data with the help of computer science and information technology. It has the enormous ability to analyze a vast quantity of biological data quickly and cost-effectively. In the past decades, enormous sequence information has been generated due to the advances in DNA and protein sequencing techniques. Estimating similarities between biological sequences is becoming necessary to obtain hidden information present within the sequence and to trace evolutionary relationship exist within the sequences. This sequence comparison can be achieved by basic local alignment search tool (BLAST). So BLAST has become a fundamental tools of life science research. Hence it is essential to know how to do sequence comparison using BLAST and how to accurately interpret the BLAST output data. The present article aims to familiarize the biologists and researchers with different BLAST programs and their use in research program. Top Keywords Bioinformatics, BLAST, Biological sequence, DNA, E-value, Protein. Top |