New Biopython Library to Support Molecular Biology

Biopython is a library that facilitates the development of applications for Bioinformatics, using the Python programming language. Maintained by an international association of programmers - the Open Bioinformatics Foundation - since 1999, it provides tools for analyzing biological sequences and accessing online databases like NCBI. It features modules for sequence alignment, protein structures, population genetics, and more. Since the library is open-source with the collaboration of several developers, the project aimed to create a new library that used to existing API services such as Expasy, Blast, Uniprot and DrugBank. This enabled a single-call module to reference multiple services, obtain results, and generate a final report for a searched sequence. The first step to start the project was a study of existing Biopython libraries to assess their alignment with the proposed objectives. Access to the DrugBank service required a formal request. It was necessary to justify the request, explaining how and why the data would be used within the scope of the project. After the preceding steps, the entire architecture and design of the solution were conceptualized and, subsequently, we started the development. As a result of this project, there was an endpoint that, when invoked by any software or platform, returns all information found for a genetic sequence in JSON format. A small user interface was also developed to display the search results as an alternative to using only the API. Because BioPython is a free package and science is the motivation, a new library will be available for several services such as Expasy, Blast, Uniprot, and DrugBank. It will be free for all schools, labs, researchers, and developers who want to use it.