Related sequences are identified through the database similarity searching and as the process generates multiple matching sequence pairs, it is often necessary to convert the numerous pair wise alignments into a single alignment.

Multiple sequence alignment (MSA) is a tool used to identify the evolutionary relationships and common patterns between genes.

Topics include: Exhaustive Algorithms, Heuristic Algorithms, Needleman – Wunsch Algorithm, Progressive Methods of Multiple Sequence Alignment, Iterative Methods of Multiple Sequence Alignment, Localized Alignments in Sequences, Statistical Methods for Aiding Alignment, & Position – Specific Scoring Matrices.