I How does bioinformatics work? -- 1 Sequence analysis: deciphering the language of life -- 2 Magic RNA -- 3 Genomes - molecular maps of living organisms -- 4 Modeling metabolism and finding new antibiotics -- 5 Systems biology and uncovering the causes of disease. II How do I understand bioinformatics?"- 6 Superfast sequence comparisons identify which molecules are present -- 7 Better understand signaling cascades by measuring encoded information -- 8 When does a computer stop computing?"- 9 Complex systems behave in fundamentally similar ways -- 10 Better compare evolution with a computer -- 11 Design principles of a cell. III What is the magical, fascinating thing about bioinformatics? -- 12 Life is always developing new information in dialogue with the environment -- 13 Life is always inventing new levels of language -- 14 We can think about ourselves - the computer cannot -- 15 How is our own, extremely powerful brain built? -- 16 Bioinformatics connects life with the universe and all the rest -- 17 Conclusion. 17 Concluding remarks and summary -- IV Glossary, tutorial, solutions and web links -- 18 Glossary -- 19 Tutorial: an overview of important databases and programs -- 20 Solutions to the exercises -- Appendix: overview of important databases and programs and their general use -- Index.