Protein sequence databases

The near exponential growth in protein sequence data is at the foundation of transformations in biological research and related technological developments. The use of protein sequence data is widespread in fields including agronomy, biochemistry, ecology, etymology, evolution, genetics, genetic engineering, genomics, molecular phylogenetics and systematics, pharmacology, and toxicology. The remarkable increase in available protein sequences will most likely continue with the proliferation of genome sequencing projects, the latter enabled by ongoing improvements in DNA sequencing technology.1 Along with opportunities, protein sequence data bring scientifically challenging problems