Prediction of gene function
Suppose you have identified a gene. What is its role in the
biochemistry of its organism? Sequence databases can
help us in formulating reasonable hypotheses.
Search the database for genes with similar nucleotide sequences in other organisms.
If the functions of the most similar genes are known and if they tend to be the same function (e.g., “codes enzyme involved in glucose metabolism”), then it is reasonable to conjecture that your gene also codes an enzyme involved in glucose metabolism.