Bioinformatics Tools Tips, Tutorials, and Terminology for Using Selected Resources in Genome Database Guide

Tutorials

The following tutorials are targeted to first-time users of some of the bioinformatics resources described in Genome Database Guide. Each tutorial includes step-by-step instructions and screen shots covering basic skills needed to use each Web site. Links to help files and other Web-based instructions for learning more about the different features of each bioinformatic tool are also provided.

• Using OMIM to learn about genes and genetic diseases - Search for human genes and genetic disease using OMIM's Morbid Map and find out what types of information are available from each OMIM entry.
  
  
• Finding a gene on a chromosome map using NCBI Map Viewer - Learn how to search for a gene on a chromosome map and modify map display options.
  
  
• Accessing records in NCBI's sequence databases - Find sequence records, learn about the different features of each record, and explore different display options for sequence data.
  
  
• Sequence-similarity searching using NCBI BLAST - Covers obtaining sequence data in FASTA format, submitting sequence data as a query, and understanding BLAST results. Descriptions of different options available for BLAST searching also are provided.
  
  
• Examining protein structures from the Protein Data Bank - Search PDB for a protein structure and use Protein Explorer to interact with a three-dimensional representation of a protein.

Terminology

Glossary of Bioinformatics Terms - Serves as a quick reference for some of the terms commonly used in bioinformatics resources to describe genes, sequence data, protein structures, and sequence similarity (BLAST) searching.

Genome Glossary - DOE Human Genome Program glossary of genetics terms. Can be searched or browsed alphabetically; links to other life science glossaries.