Viroinformatics for viral diseases: tools and databases

The amount of raw data has exponentially increased due to tools and technologies for analysis of biologic organisms (including viruses). The task now, therefore, is to have computational systems that allow the average researcher to calculate information to store, retrieve, visualize, and analyze data. Fortunately, the advancement of computer technology, particularly that relating to databases, has balanced continuous improvements to data-intensive biologic technologies. This research forms the foundation of many of the bioinformatics technologies that provide an overview of the different databases available for viruses and how they provide valuable information from the stored biologic data. The different tools associated with virus analysis are also discussed, accompanied by a summary of several online databases that contain general biologic and viral data. The chapter also features a case study on evaluating genome relationship between SARS-CoV-2 strains at different geolocations.