ABSTRACT
Biopython1 is a package of useful modules to develop bioinformatics applications. Although each bioinformatics analysis is unique, there are some tasks that are repeated, constants shared between programs and standard file formats. This situation suggests the need for a package to deal with biological problems. Biopython started as an idea in August of 1999, it was an initiative by
Jeff Chang and Andrew Dalke. Although they came up with the idea, collaborators soon joined the project. Among the most active developers, Brad Chapman, Peter Cock, Michiel de Hoon and Iddo Friedberg stand out. The project began to take code form in February 2000 and in July of the same year the first release was made. The original idea was to build a package equivalent to BioPerl which back then was the principal bioinformatics package. Although BioPerl may have been Biopython’s inspiration, the conceptual differences between Perl and Python have given Biopython a particular way of doing things. Biopython is part of the family of open-bio projects (also known as Bio*), for which institutionally it is a member of the Open Bioinformatics Foundation.2
