Question

Which algorithm is used for performing Global Sequence Alignment?

• A. Smith–Waterman Algorithm
• B. Needleman–Wunsch Algorithm
• C. BLAST Algorithm
• D. FASTA Algorithm

Hint:

Global Sequence Alignment → {Needleman–Wunsch Algorithm}
Local Sequence Alignment → {Smith–Waterman Algorithm}

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Concept:
Sequence alignment is a fundamental technique in bioinformatics used to identify similarities between DNA, RNA, or protein sequences. There are two main types of sequence alignment:

• Global Alignment: Aligns two sequences from beginning to end, considering their entire length.
• Local Alignment: Finds the best matching subsequences within larger sequences.

The Needleman–Wunsch algorithm is a dynamic programming method specifically designed for global sequence alignment.
Step 1:Understanding Global Sequence Alignment.
Global sequence alignment compares two sequences along their entire length to determine the optimal alignment. This approach is useful when the sequences are of similar length and expected to be similar overall.
Step 2:Identifying the algorithm used.
The Needleman–Wunsch algorithm performs global alignment using dynamic programming by constructing a scoring matrix and tracing back the optimal path to produce the best alignment.
Step 3:Eliminating other options.}

• Smith–Waterman Algorithm → Used for local sequence alignment.
• BLAST → Used for fast database similarity searches.
• FASTA → Another heuristic search algorithm for sequence comparison.

Conclusion:
Therefore, the algorithm used for Global Sequence Alignment is the Needleman–Wunsch Algorithm.