Question

To find suboptimal structures, the dynamic programming method was modified.

(a) True

(b) False

This question was addressed to me in an interview.

I need to ask this question from MFOLD and the Use of Energy Plots topic in section RNA Structure Prediction of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

(a) True

In RNA structure prediction, the dynamic programming method was indeed modified to find suboptimal structures. While the original dynamic programming approach focuses on finding the minimum free energy (MFE) structure, modifications allow the identification of suboptimal structures, which are those with slightly higher free energies but still biologically relevant. This helps in capturing alternative RNA structures that might be involved in various functional roles.