Computer analysis of nucleic acids and proteins

The progress of molecular biology has been paced by the development of effective methods to determine the primary structure of macromolecules: proteins, RNA, and DNA. Recent techniques for sequencing DNA have become so rapid that analysis of the resultant data is a major undertaking. It is therefore natural to turn for aid to another achievement of contemporary science, the electronic computer. In this article, we begin by outlining some general principles of computer utilization. Then we discuss the computer programs available for nucleic acid analysis and present in detail one comprehensive program that can be used for amino acid as well as nucleotide sequences. We conclude with a comment on the interpretation of computer-generated information.