Bioinformatics program writing question

Theworldarriving has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

This is the approach I would like to take. I have 5 mitochondrial dna sequences. I would like to run a loop (I'm not sure how to do this) to see which one is most similar to the mtdna of It will print this result. Tympanuchus cupido cupido is the bird I'm trying to compare the other mtdna to. Then, I would like to swap the mtdna of the Heath Hen to the closest relative. Google Drive

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;
# we are going to run a loop the mtdn subspecies of the prairie hen to
+ Tympanuchus cupido cupido to see which one is most similar percentwi
+se. Then we will select the closest relative and the nucelotides with
+ heath hen mtdna. 
# What do I do next?
[download]

Comment on Bioinformatics program writing question Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Bioinformatics program writing question by ww (Archbishop) on Dec 01, 2015 at 02:17 UTC
" # What do I do next? " Read Tutorials starting with "Getting Started with Perl" and continuing thru "Input and Output." Next, think about what you would need to do to "select the closest relative..." if you weren't using a computer. Write it down, step by step using whatever pseudocode notation you like to deal with any looping that's necessary... and - bingo! - you'll have an outline of the job. Then try to write some actual code; not merely a hashbang plus comments. That's when we can really help you learn. If you're not here to learn, then go to a jobs site and hire a programmer.	[reply]
Re: Bioinformatics program writing question by GotToBTru (Prior) on Dec 01, 2015 at 14:05 UTC
As you're thinking about how to solve this, you might want to search on this site for other questions/answers about bioinformatics. Search on that term and other related ones (DNA for instance). There have been several posts here in the past year about bioinformatics questions, most of them involving using modules. You might find one that already does what you need. Dum Spiro Spero	[reply]
Re: Bioinformatics program writing question by stevieb (Canon) on Dec 01, 2015 at 02:04 UTC
Welcome to the Monastery, Theworldarriving, we welcome everyone, but we're professionals here. We appreciate our time, much like you probably do your own... "What do I do next?" This: How do I post a question effectively?	[reply]