ABSTRACT
Scientists must be able to examine DNA sequence data in the context of the biological and genetic information from which the data derive. It is insufficient just to know the amino acid sequence of a protein when a model of the three-dimensional structure may also be available. The chromosomal localization of the DNA sequence may be known and should be correlated with the nucleotide sequence record. Functional attributes of the DNA sequence or its gene product may be known. Many computational tools are required to retrieve and use the enormous amount of information available. Fortunately, unified mechanisms for retrieving and analyzing the variety of inter-related data are emerging and the tools are as close and convenient as the nearest computer workstation with access to the Internet. This chapter presents an overview of the informatics tools used to access biological databases and highlights selected sites on the World Wide Web (WWW) that bring some of the most important tools right into the laboratory.
