Hunting for Genes in Computer Data Bases

Hardly a month goes by without a report that some new gene for a human disease has been cloned. Recently, for example, the genes responsible for ataxia?telangiectasia and early-onset Alzheimer's disease were isolated. In the final analysis, such studies always come down to a DNA sequence and whatever biologic function (or functions) we can infer from it. In other words, we may know from genetic-linkage studies that a particular gene sequence (in mutated form) is responsible for a disease, but what clues can a DNA sequence provide about the precise pathophysiology of that disease? Overwhelmingly, the answer now lies in . . .