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Genetics & Biotechnology vocabulary · Bioinformatics

BLAST

Meaning in genetics & biotechnology, with examples

abbreviationCommon term

In genetics & biotechnology, BLAST means: Basic Local Alignment Search Tool: a widely used program that compares a DNA or protein sequence with large databases to find similar sequences.

In Turkish: BLAST, BLAST taraması

How it is used

Run on the NCBI website or locally, and also used as a verb: 'I BLASTed the sequence'. Common versions are BLASTn for nucleotides and BLASTp for proteins. Results list 'hits' with percent identity and an E-value; the lower the E-value, the more significant the match.

Example sentences

  1. I BLASTed the unknown sequence, and the top hit was a Pseudomonas species.

  2. Check your primers with BLAST to make sure they don't bind to other genes.

Common collocations

  • run a BLAST search
  • BLAST hit
  • BLAST against a database
  • top hit
  • E-value
  • alignmentArranging DNA, RNA or protein sequences side by side to find where they match, or placing sequencing reads in the right position on a reference genome.
  • bioinformaticsThe use of computers, statistics and software to store, analyze and interpret biological data, especially DNA, RNA and protein sequences.
  • accession numberA unique code given to a sequence or dataset when it is stored in a public database such as GenBank, so that others can find exactly the same record.
  • primerA short, single-stranded piece of DNA, usually 18 to 25 bases long, that binds to a matching sequence and gives DNA polymerase a starting point for copying.

More terms: Bioinformatics

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