Section: Application Domains

Comparative genomics

Referring to a set of already known sequences is the most important method for studying new sequences, in the search for homologies. The basic issue is the alignment of a set of sequences, where one is looking for a global correspondence between positions of each sequence. A more complex issue consists in aligning structures. More macroscopic studies are also possible, involving more complex operations on genomes such as permutations. Genotyping studies consider Single Nucleotide Polymorphism data, which correspond to mutations observed at given positions in a sequence with respect to a population. Analyzing this type of data and relating them to phenotypic data leads to new research issues. Once sequences have been compared, phylogenies, that is, trees tracing back the evolution of genes, may be built from a set of induced distances.