The DNA sequence is the inheritable genetic information that forms the basis for the development programs of living beings. Thus, DNA sequencing is useful in the study of basic research into fundamental biological processes, as well as in applied fields such as clinical or forensic research.

The development of DNA sequencing has significantly accelerated research and discoveries in biology. Current techniques allow this sequencing to be performed at high speed, which has been of great importance for large-scale sequencing projects such as the Human Genome Project. Other related projects, sometimes the result of worldwide research collaboration, have established the complete DNA sequence of many genomes of animals, plants and microorganisms.

The increasing demand for sequencing has given rise to next-generation sequencing (NGS). In recent years, different sequencing platforms have been developed.

Due to the considerable increase in the collection of sequencing data, bioinformatics has also seen a boom, which according to one of its simplest definitions, is the application of computational technologies and statistics to the management and analysis of biological data.