Biopython: a set of free Python tools for computational molecular biology

A logo of two blue and yellow snakes wrapped around each other to look like a helix

The Biopython Project is a global group of developers creating Python tools for computational biology. While there are plenty of other programming languages for scientific use, Python was chosen for its flexibility, community, and clear syntax.

As mentioned in the introduction, Biopython is a set of libraries to provide the ability to deal with “things” of interest to biologists working on the computer. In general this means that you will need to have at least some programming experience (in Python, of course!) or at least an interest in learning to program. Biopython’s job is to make your job easier as a programmer by supplying reusable libraries so that you can focus on answering your specific question of interest, instead of focusing on the internals of parsing a particular file format (of course, if you want to help by writing a parser that doesn’t exist and contributing it to Biopython, please go ahead!). So Biopython’s job is to make you happy!

From the Biopython Tutorial and Cookbook

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.