My first Magazine SFI Little Book - April Re-print edits included | Page 19

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Software to Make
Sense of DNA
Irish scientist Prof Des Higgins wrote one of the
most-widely used pieces of computer software in
bioinformatics. In the 1980s, he developed CLUSTAL, a
programme to align DNA and protein sequences, and
this became a standard tool in the field around the world,
allowing researchers to draw meaningful information
out of genomic data. The latest web-based version of
this programme is being used over a half a million times
a month.
Academic papers explaining the software tool were
widely referenced by other researchers. As a result, Prof
Higgins has held rankings among the most cited authors
in computer science, although interestingly, he is a
biologist. Today, Prof Higgins continues to develop and
use bioinformatics software to analyse biological data at
University College Dublin, and help find new molecules
of interest for diagnosing and treating cancer.
www.ucd.ie