Deck 24: Bioinformatics, Biomedical Informatics, and Computational Biology

Question 1

After reading this chapter, you know that the study of genomics is helping clinicians to understand better the interaction between genes and the environment. This new information and knowledge will continue to help clinicians find ways to improve health and prevent disease. How do you envision patient care will change based on genomics in 10 years, 20 years, or 50 years in the future?

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

Review the ethical, social, and legal issues (ESLI) raised by the Human Genome Project presented in Box 24-2. Prepare a similar list of ESLI questions to apply to the public health databases being developed for health information exchanges. Can you appreciate how these ESLI questions are widely applicable to protecting information gathered from human subjects?

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

What is biomedical informatics?

A) The most important aspect in information discovery, retrieval, and delivery, enabling those managing the knowledge to reevaluate and rethink the way they are understanding and utilizing what they know and have learned
B) An interdisciplinary science with a focus on data management and interpretation for complex biological phenomena that are analyzed and visualized using mathematical modeling and numerical methodologies with predictive algorithms
C) The interdisciplinary science of acquiring, structuring, analyzing, and providing access to biomedical data, information, and knowledge
D) The actual process of analyzing and interpreting data

Answer 3

C

Question 4

One of the major outcomes of the Human Genome Project was:

A) the reduction in costs associated with the study of genomes at the beginning of the project as compared to those same costs nearing the end of the project.
B) that all patients must be assessed and treated using genomics.
C) that all of the DNA sequencing work was completed and the benefits were ready to be implemented in our healthcare delivery system.
D) the realization that ethical, legal, and social issues will arise from studying human genomes.

Question 5

On the biomedical side of informatics, we must be cognizant of the fact that medical data typically are extracted from personal, confidential, and legally protected medical records. The protection of human subjects must be paramount and all ethical, legal, and social issues must be addressed.

Question 6

BioInformatics is a less mature scientific discipline that aims to research and develop algorithms and computational and statistical techniques that solve biological problems.

Question 7

Biomedical Informatics is the science underlying the acquisition, maintenance, retrieval, and application of biomedical knowledge and information to improve patient care, medical education, and health sciences research.

Question 8

The future of health care is based on genomics.

Question 9

Both the molecular biomarkers and the protein-based network biomarkers have limitations because of their static nature.

Question 10

Personalized medicine is often described as providing the right patient with the right drug at the right dose at the right time.

Question 11

The Human Genome Project focused on the DNA sequence from a single individual, the HapMap project focused on variation in the genome and on human populations, and the Cancer Genome Atlas Project is concerned with how cancer affects the genomes.

Question 12

Two examples of publicly available databases are the Gene Expression Omnibus, which is maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the National Library of Medicine, and Array-Express, which is maintained by the European Bioinformatics Institute.

Question 13

The Human Genome Project helped researchers to realize that ethical, legal, and social issues arise from studying human genomes.

Question 14

The Human Genome Project began in 1990 and was completed in 2003.

Question 15

The bioinformatics market is limited to North America.

Question 16

Biomedical informaticists use bioinformatics methods to integrate large biological and medical datasets to facilitate understanding of the human body and its biological functioning.

Question 17

Computational biology is the action complement of bioinformatics.

Question 18

Bioinformatics is the branch of biology that is concerned with the acquisition, storage, display, and analysis of the information found in nucleic acid and protein sequence data. Computers and bioinformatics software are the tools of the trade.

Question 19

Computational biology can be defined as the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling, and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavioral, and social systems.

Question 20

As healthcare professionals, we must always consider how the advances in personalized medicine impact our provision of care and how we can take advantage of personalized medicine for our patients.

Question 21

Personalized medicine (also known as precision medicine) may be thought of as the tailoring of medical treatment to the individual characteristics, needs, and preferences of a patient during all stages of care, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

Question 22

Bioinformatics tools are used in a healthcare organization to analyze which of the following?

A) Large datasets of clinical information
B) Medical and nursing errors
C) Financial revenue
D) Patient and staff satisfaction

Question 23

A nurse is explaining the Human Genome Project to a nursing student. Which statement by the nurse is correct?

A) "The project seeks to identify genes in the human DNA and uses bioinformatics."
B) "This project is funded by pharmaceutical companies so more medications can be created."
C) "This project does not include data analysis or storage of data to protect patient privacy."
D) "This project is funded by private sector money and will be applied for insurance eligibility purposes."

Question 24

A healthcare provider is discussing the Human Genome Project with a patient. Which of the following should the healthcare provider highlight as issues that have arisen out of human DNA sequencing?

A) Ethical, legal, and social issues
B) Access to health care issues
C) Diversity in health care issues
D) Financial issues

Question 25

A nurse receives a patient's genetic test results and phones the physician with the results. The nurse understands which of the following?

A) Genetic test results can impact which medications are prescribed to the patient.
B) Genetic test results are important to include in the research databases.
C) Genetic test results can impact the patient's family members in a negative way.
D) Genetic test results need to be repeated to verify the validity.

Question 26

The healthcare provider receives the genetic tests for a child. Which of the following must the provider consider when speaking with the child's parents?

A) The risks and limitations of genetic technology
B) The societal impact of genetics
C) The use of genetically modified foods
D) The impact of the results on bioinformatics

Question 27

A nurse is caring for a patient who has a strong family history of cancer, and the patient is apprehensive about genetic testing that has been ordered. Which of the following is the correct statement by the nurse?

A) "Genetic testing is important because it will tell healthcare providers about your risk of disease."
B) "Genetic testing is information that has little effect on you as an individual."
C) "Genetic testing is your decision and does not impact your family members."
D) "Genetic testing does not have any risks or limitations."

Question 28

A scientist is analyzing sequencing data in a computer in order to identify genes. This analysis is which of the following?

A) Bioinformatics
B) Biomedicine
C) Computational informatics
D) Medical informatics

Question 29

A nurse researcher is analyzing biomedical information that will assist in the treatment of a disease. This is known as which of the following?

A) Biomedical informatics
B) Bioinformatics
C) Computational informatics
D) Medical informatics

Question 30

Biomedical informatics is the application of bioinformatics in health care.

Question 31

Biomedical informatics provides knowledge about the effects of DNA variants among individuals.

Question 32

A nurse is teaching a nursing student about bioinformatics. Which statement by the nurse is correct?

A) "Bioinformatics has assisted studying biological processes, including the sequencing of the human genome."
B) "Bioinformatics is a new area of science where scientists examine one gene or protein."
C) "Bioinformatics is an academic discipline that applies health technologies to promote health."
D) "Bioinformatics uses medical information to improve individual health through technology."

Question 33

A scientist is analyzing and interpreting data to form a new algorithm and statistics, a process known as:

A) computational biology.
B) biomedical technology.
C) nursing computational technology.
D) health computational biology.

Question 34

A scientist is identifying genes with long DNA sequences to help identify risk factors and treatments for diseases. Identification of genes is a crucial aspect of which of the following?

A) Bioinformatics
B) Bioengineering
C) Pharmaceutical technology
D) Medical technology

Question 35

An oncology nurse is interested in how cancer affects genomes. Which project should the nurse review?

A) The Cancer Genome Atlas Project
B) The Human Genome Project
C) The HapMap Project
D) The Biomedical Project

Question 36

A patient has Stage IV terminal cancer and is in hospice care. Which of the following should the physician consider when thinking about the use of genetic testing for this patient?

A) Should testing be performed when no treatment is available?
B) How will personal genetic information affect society's perceptions of that individual?
C) How will the genetic tests be evaluated and regulated for accuracy, reliability, and utility?
D) Are genetically modified foods and other products safe for this patient?

Question 37

A healthcare provider is interested in bioinformatics research and understands that bioinformatics is based in which sciences?

A) Computer science
B) Cognitive science
C) Engineering
D) All of these are correct.

Question 38

A healthcare provider is explaining biomedical informatics to a colleague. Which statement by the healthcare provider is correct?

A) "Biomedical informatics uses information to improve individual health, public health, and health care."
B) "Biomedical informatics does not include input from the social sciences."
C) "Biomedical informatics affects the practice of medicine but not overall health care."
D) "Biomedical informatics does not have any utility in actual patient care."

Question 39

A healthcare provider understands that biomedicine affects patients in which way?

A) By the prevention of disease and promotion of health
B) By processing and utilization of scientific data
C) By increasing access to health care for those who have genetic testing
D) By evaluating and regulating genomics and its application

Question 40

Studying variations in DNA sequencing is important for understanding disease in humans.

Question 41

Bioinformatics molecular data and measurement tools are publicly available.