Structural Bioinformatics

The Beauty of Protein Structures and the Mathematics behind Structural Bioinformatics

Providing the framework for a one-semester undergraduate course, Structural Bioinformatics: An Algorithmic Approach shows how to apply key algorithms to solve problems related to macromolecular structure.

Helps Students Go Further in Their Study of Structural Biology

Following some introductory material in the first few chapters, the text solves the longest common subsequence problem using dynamic programming and explains the science models for the Nussinov and MFOLD algorithms. It then reviews sequence alignment, along with the basic mathematical calculations needed for measuring the geometric properties of macromolecules. After looking at how coordinate transformations facilitate the translation and rotation of molecules in a 3D space, the author introduces structural comparison techniques, superposition algorithms, and algorithms that compare relationships within a protein. The final chapter explores how regression and classification are becoming more useful in protein analysis and drug design.

At the Crossroads of Biology, Mathematics, and Computer Science

Connecting biology, mathematics, and computer science, this practical text presents various bioinformatics topics and problems within a scientific methodology that emphasizes nature (the source of empirical observations), science (the mathematical modeling of the natural process), and computation (the science of calculating predictions and mathematical objects based on mathematical models).