CANCELED – CCB Seminar: Dr. Sean Eddy, Harvard University: Sequence Homology Searches: The Future of Deciphering the Past

Sean Eddy, Professor, Harvard University
Abstract: Computational recognition of distant sequence homology is a key to studying ancient events in molecular evolution. The better our sequence analysis methods are, the deeper in evolutionary time we can see. A major aim in the field is to improve the resolution of homology recognition methods by building increasingly realistic, complex, parameter-rich models. I will describe current and future research in homology search algorithms based on probabilistic inference methods, including hidden Markov models (HMMs) and stochastic context-free grammars (SCFGs). We make these methods available in the HMMER and Infernal software from my laboratory, in collaboration with sequence family databases including Pfam and Rfam.