Introduction to 'Pitfalls of protein sequence analysis' Imagine you have a protein sequence, either sequenced in your own lab or pulled down from genome projects of EST production. You decide to let theoretical biology assist you in finding a priori information about your protein that may be useful to accelerate and design experiments. The possible pitfalls are numerous, including picking a lousy server or misinterpreting the results.
Ease of use bears an ease of misuse.
Experimental biologists submit sequences, theoretical biologists configure automatic services that return predictions. The advantage is that users need not become experts for sequence analysis tools. However, the ease of offering and accessing predictions bears two problems. Users may misinterpret results due to a lack of insight into the features of prediction methods.