Shredding (disassembling genomic data)

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) was first found by Roselind Franklin. She discovered that DNA exists in species by taking multiple x-rays until she found it. She did not actually know much about it other than it exists. James Watson and Francis Cricket then used Roselind's discovery and looked further into it. They discovered the structure of DNA. They were the first to know that DNA has a double helix after the analysis of the x-rays.

Shredding refers to the process in bioinformatics of taking assembled sequences and disassembling them into short sequences of usually 500 to 750 base pairs (bp). This is generally done for the purpose of taking the short shredded sequences and reapplying various analysis and bioinformatic techniques.

Human Genome Project

The process of shredding was used successfully several times during the analysis phase of the human genome project.