The Importance of Bioinformatics

10th November 2023
Posted by: Breige McBride
Category: Bioinformatics

The importance of bioinformatics is often overlooked. Bioinformatics is a huge, growing specialisation but essentially it encompasses the handling and appropriate analysis of large–scale data sets. Bioinformatics, as a discipline, is a combination of biology, mathematics, statistics and computer science. Below are examples which illustrate the importance of bioinformatics:

Bioinformatics and problem solving

There are numerous examples of the importance of bioinformatics to problem solving. One of the earliest and most high-profile examples was the Human Genome Project (HGP). Back in 1990 when the HGP was launched, bioinformatics informed the consortium on how sequencing data should be generated, collected, stored, analysed and interpreted. At that time, the scale of sequencing data the project produced was unprecedented and was a huge challenge to researchers. Indeed, “plan for data analysis” is one of the six key lessons that were learned from the HGP. Fortunately, bioinformatics was able to help the HGP overcome the challenge of handling and analysing such a large volume of data. Bioinformatics was, and remains, essential to genomics and data science. In fact, solutions for scientific problems across all biological fields are emerging from the constant development, enhancement and refining of bioinformatics tools.

Machine learning & artificial intelligence

Another example of the importance of bioinformatics is its utility in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The resolution of protein structure has traditionally been a very technically difficult problem to solve for researchers, particularly for proteins with hydrophobic domains and those that are membrane-bound. However, AlphaFold, which is a branch of Google’s DeepMind, was developed as an in-silico method of using bioinformatics and data to predict protein structure.

AlphaFold has predicted the structure of millions of proteins across multiple organisms, not limited to humans. Further, AlphaFold has embraced data sharing (another of the HGP six key lessons) and has made protein structures publicly available. The importance of bioinformatics is highlighted since it has enabled researchers to access protein structures and, crucially, to use these structures for various reasons including computer-assisted de novo design of drugs or antibiotics.

The importance of bioinformatics in drug development & repurposing

Drug development

There are several examples illustrative of the importance of bioinformatics in assisting the discovery, development and repurposing of drugs. In drug discovery, bioinformatics has driven the in-silico development of drugs through prediction of compound function, target identification, molecular simulation, validation and prioritisation. This year (2023), the first fully generative AI-designed drug reached human clinical trials and there are many more candidates progressing through pharmaceutical development pipelines. Bioinformatics can be used to screen compounds in silico, and compounds can be matched computationally to the molecular structure of a target, eliminating the need for high-throughput wet laboratory-based screening assays. Bioinformatics can also predict the properties of a compound.

Due to the use of bioinformatics, drug discovery and validation for AI generated drugs can take less than two months. This is a significant time-saving compared to the industry average of two to three years. Therefore, the importance of bioinformatics in drug discovery and development is essentially the speed it brings to the process. Bioinformatics significantly speeds up drug discovery and development, which offers pharmaceutical companies savings in time and money, and could offer patients access to new therapies sooner.

Drug repurposing

As well as drug design, drug repurposing is another area where bioinformatics excels. One recent example of effective drug repurposing occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Baracitinib, a drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, was identified using bioinformatics approaches in-silico as the best candidate to treat COVID-19 patients and subsequently its efficacy was confirmed in clinical trials. Successful drug repurposing has been facilitated for numerous other compounds across cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer, amongst other diseases. Several databases have been established to assist this process including the Broad Institute Drug Repurposing Hub and the ZINC15 compound database. Using bioinformatics, researchers can access, harness, and analyse the vast quantities of data that are freely available.

The importance of bioinformatics for precision medicine

Bioinformatics is critical to the application of precision medicine. For example, bioinformatics algorithms can process different types of data (imaging, -omics, demographics, clinical, epidemiological) and use these to determine the best course of treatment for a patient. For instance, it is possible to use bioinformatics approaches to determine which patients will respond to anti-cancer treatments including radiotherapy, chemotherapy or immunotherapy. This is important as patients who would not benefit from any of these treatments need not suffer the significant side effects associated with treatment. Additionally, these bioinformatics approaches help to preserve and direct resources to those who would benefit from them.

As well as guiding treatment, bioinformatics can also be used to assist diagnostic testing. For example, many bioinformatics algorithms have performed on par with, or better than, medical experts when assessing diagnostic imaging. Algorithms can be designed for many different purposes. These include (but are not limited to) mapping the border of a tumour on a histology slide, evaluating heart function using an MRI, or even predicting the probability of post-operative complications. These bioinformatics approaches can not only assist clinicians in decision making. They can also improve workflow for health providers and can help guide patients in promoting their own health and wellbeing. The importance of bioinformatics is therefore pervasive throughout precision medicine.

The importance of bioinformatics in everyday life

While bioinformatics is important in fundamental scientific disciplines such as oncology, immunology, medicine and machine learning, it is also important in numerous areas of everyday life. For example, researchers have optimised modern agricultural methods using bioinformatics. For instance, to improve crop yields and enhance the genetic fitness of livestock. Also, bioinformatics can help with the investigation of microbiomes and soil improvement. Ultimately, bioinformatics has helped our farmers and food producers to grow more food and to keep food costs low. See our Agriculture Bioinformatics: Advancing Agriculture Research blog for further details.

Another area where bioinformatics is important in everyday life is in the cosmetics industry. Cosmetics manufacturers can use bioinformatics to help select ingredients for use in new products. They can also use bioinformatics to assess the quality of ingredients and the resulting new products. What’s more, cosmetics manufacturers can use bioinformatics analyses to refine current products and to analyse data for use in submissions to regulatory bodies or to share with consumers. See our Advancing Cosmetic Development with Bioinformatics blog for further details.

Harness the power of bioinformatics analysis

Would you like to bring the benefits of bioinformatics analysis to your next research project? No matter what industry you are in, if your research involves biological data sets, Fios Genomics can analyse them! We provide a wide range of bioinformatics services for a variety of applications. To discover how our analysis services could benefit your research project then please contact us. We are always happy to discuss your research and advise on available analyses. What’s more, we can provide a sample analysis report relevant to your research area.

Author: Colin Shepherd, Scientific Editor, Fios Genomics.