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Glossary

Abstract

The glossary explains and defines important terms in bioinformatics. We can only

explain the most important terms here. The field is developing rapidly and is, after all,

situated between two disciplines, biology and computer science. It is thus a bit more

challenging in the set of basic terms than if it were just about one subject. First we give

a short definition, then explain details and give examples for complex terms.

The glossary explains and defines important terms in bioinformatics. We can only explain

the most important terms here. The field is developing rapidly and is also still located

between two disciplines, biology and computer science, and thus also somewhat more

demanding in the amount of basic terms than if it were only about one subject. First we

give a short definition, then explain details and give examples for complex terms.

Ab Initio Protein Structure Prediction  Method for predicting protein structure from a

sequence based on the biophysical properties (e.g. hydrogen bonds or hydrophobic effects)

of proteins.

Amino Acids  Carbon compounds, consist of an amino and an acid group at the C-alpha

carbon atom and a characterizing amino acid residue. Proteinogenic amino acids are the

20 that are incorporated into proteins with the genetic code. 

Artificial Intelligence  Properties of a computer to reproduce biological facts so that inde­

pendent learning is possible, e.g. neuronal network or also through hidden Markov models.

© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023

T. Dandekar, M. Kunz, Bioinformatics,

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-65036-3_18