Genome Research and Bioinformatics

The whole of the genetic information encoded in our hereditary material is called the human genome. The rapid advancement of molecular genetics over the past few years has enabled us to analyze and understand the causes of disease on a molecular level. In particular, we have learned that cancer is closely associated with modifications in the genome. We also know that the human genome has a length of 3 billion molecular building blocks and is divided into 44 autosomes (chromosomes that are not linked to the sex) and two sex chromosomes. In view of the wealth of highly complex data accumulated in the process of genome analysis, biologists and geneticists working in this Research Program cooperate closely with computer scientists and mathematicians.