BLAST (biotechnology)

BLAST
Original author(s)Stephen Altschul, Warren Gish, Webb Miller, Eugene Myers, and David Lipman
Developer(s)NCBI
Stable release
2.16.0+[1] / 25 June 2024; 5 months ago (2024-06-25)
Written inC and C++[2]
Operating systemUNIX, Linux, Mac, MS-Windows
TypeBioinformatics tool
LicensePublic domain
Websiteblast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi

In bioinformatics, BLAST (basic local alignment search tool)[3] is an algorithm and program for comparing primary biological sequence information, such as the amino-acid sequences of proteins or the nucleotides of DNA and/or RNA sequences. A BLAST search enables a researcher to compare a subject protein or nucleotide sequence (called a query) with a library or database of sequences, and identify database sequences that resemble the query sequence above a certain threshold. For example, following the discovery of a previously unknown gene in the mouse, a scientist will typically perform a BLAST search of the human genome to see if humans carry a similar gene; BLAST will identify sequences in the human genome that resemble the mouse gene based on similarity of sequence.

  1. ^ BLAST Release Notes. National Center for Biotechnology Information (US). 24 June 2024.
  2. ^ "BLAST Developer Information". blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
  3. ^ Douglas Martin (21 February 2008). "Samuel Karlin, Versatile Mathematician, Dies at 83". The New York Times.