The Little Book of Irish Science SFI Little Book of Irish Science | Page 34

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30
Software to Make
Sense of DNA
Irish scientist Prof Des Higgins wrote one of the
most-widely used pieces of computer software in
bioinformatics. In the 1980s, he developed CLUSTAL, a
programme to align DNA and protein sequences, and
this became a standard tool in the fi eld around the world,
allowing researchers to draw meaningful information
out of genomic data. The latest web-based version of
this programme is being used over a half a million times
a month.
Academic papers explaining the software tool were
widely referenced by other researchers. As a result, Prof
Higgins has held rankings among the most cited authors
in computer science, although interestingly, he is a
biologist. Today, Prof Higgins continues to develop and
use bioinformatics software to analyse biological data at
University College Dublin, and help fi nd new molecules
of interest for diagnosing and treating cancer.
www.ucd.ie