What could be the link between biodiversity and bioinformatics? Other than both being forms and branches of science, one may not assume that they hold a lot in common. But to understand how they work together, we should understand how they work separately and what work is being done in each field to bridge the gap from what we know and see in our environment and how it relates to possible genetic changes that take place over time. Each works in its unique way to help further our knowledge of how species change and why.
Biodiversity is in whole the study and measure of a given ecosystem to determine how healthy it is, and how everything inside of it works together. Ecologists study different ecosystems in different areas of the world to help learn more about a given geographical and ecological area. They can learn what natural resources are available, what living organisms inhabit the area, and how things have changed over a period of time.
Through the work and studies in knowing how things change due to evolution and the environment, they are able to help predict how certain species go extinct, and what is causing these changes to happen. By studying genetic coding in the living organisms, they are able to note changes that have taken place in the protein and DNA sequences of the organisms over a period of time. How have they been able to track these changes? That is where bioinformatics comes in.
Bioinformatics has been developed as a way to track and record the genetic information of hundreds of different species and track the changes that occur on the molecular level within the species over time. Bioinformatics implements the use of biology, computational mathematics, computer science and information technology. Through the combination of these methods, scientists are able to store and compare the information from all kinds of different species and know how they change over time.
So what does evolution and the environment have to do with biodiversity and bioinformatics? Practically everything and anything you can imagine. The concept of evolution, although not accepted by everyone, explains how species change and adapt to their surroundings over time. Part of the reason that they need to change and adapt is because of environmental factors. Some of these factors influence different characteristics in the organisms, which display themselves in the DNA information. By keeping track and noting the changes in the protein sequences of DNA, biologists are able to find out what could possibly be causing these changes to occur, and perhaps at what time or level of time they did occur.
It can also be used to help determine why some species grow and adapt and others don’t, and why some species become extinct. Bioinformatics helps the study of biodiversity by creating a way for the information to be securely stored, analyzed and compared from time to time in given studies.