Question

Which of the following is not an advantage of Needleman-Wunsch algorithm?

(a) New algorithmic improvements as well as increasing computer capacity make it possible to align a query sequence against a large DB in a few minutes

(b) Similar sequence region is of same order and orientation

(c) This does not help in determining evolutionary relationship

(d) If you have 2 genes that are already understood as closely related, then this type of algorithm can be used to understand them in further details

I had been asked this question in class test.

This is a very interesting question from Global Sequence Alignment in chapter Sequence Alignment of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

Right answer is (c) This does not help in determining evolutionary relationship

For explanation I would say: Needleman-Wunsch algorithm is used when 2 genes that are already understood as closely related and can be used to understand them in further details. This is quite helpful in finding orthologs, paralogs and homologs in evolutionary studies.