Microarray bioinformatics in cancer- a review.

Bioinformatics is one of the newest fields of biological research, and should be viewed broadly as the use of mathematical, statistical, and computational methods for the processing and analysis of biological data. Over the last decade, the rapid growth of information and technology in both "genomics" and "omics" eras has been overwhelming for the laboratory scientists to process experimental results. Traditional gene-by-gene approaches in research are insufficient to meet the growth and demand of biological research in understanding the true biology. The massive amounts of data generated by new technologies as genomic sequencing and microarray chips make the management of data and the integration of multiple platforms of high importance; this is then followed by data analysis and interpretation to achieve biological understanding and therapeutic progress. Global views of analyzing the magnitude of information are necessary and traditional approaches to lab work have steadily been changing towards a bioinformatics era. Research is moving from being restricted to a laboratory environment to working with computers in a "virtual lab" environment. The present review article shall put light on this emerging field and its applicability towards cancer research.