In biology, a map allows the parts of a whole to be graphically represented.
The concept of mapping refers to the act and result of mapping . This verb (to map), in turn, is used in the field of biology to refer to the graphic representation of the parts of a whole .
In a broad sense, mapping can be said to involve making a map or depicting a structure or system on a map-like graph. This construction process is known as mapping.
Genetic mapping
Genetic mapping is the assignment of a physical space to the various genes that make up a genome . In other words, mapping involves determining the relative positions of the genes and the distance between them.
Genetic mapping allows us to determine which gene is linked to a hereditary disease . It also helps us to determine which genes play an active role in the development of certain heart disorders, cancer, diabetes and other conditions.
Study of the brain
Brain mapping is also known as the location of biological properties in a spatial representation of the brain . What brain mapping allows us to do is to accurately identify the areas of the brain that are responsible for controlling movement, speech, vision , etc. This is very useful when a person must undergo brain surgery, for example.
To perform brain mapping, a quantitative electroencephalogram is used. The doctor places electrodes on the individual's scalp and records the electrical activity coming from the brain for analysis over several minutes.
Brain mapping requires the development of a quantitative electroencephalogram.
Data mapping
In the business world, there is the concept of data mapping , an essential tool for success. It is the process by which the correspondences between the various fields between two databases are determined. For tasks such as migration and integration, very common in data management, mapping cannot be missing.
During data processing, an error can lead to a very serious situation in which the company makes a bad decision again instead of replacing it with a better one.
Almost every company must move data from one system to another at some point in its evolution. One of the main problems is that different systems often contain similar data; without a roadmap to ensure the move is accurate, tasks such as consolidation can go awry.
The importance of data homogenization
The first step to analysing data to obtain commercial information that can be useful to the company is to standardise it so that managers can read it easily. What is the problem that this need causes? Today, it is common for similar data to have more than one source and format, so that two or more sources can tell us the same thing but in a different way; therefore, at the end of this first stage, all equivalent data must be merged, choosing only one style.
A very common example of this situation is with the names of geographic regions or languages: one field may say “NA” and another “North America,” but the data is the same and we must homogenize both fields. Thanks to data mapping, the distances between systems are narrowed, and when they reach their destination they are reliable and therefore useful.
Although data mapping is not a new process , but rather one that has been around for some time, the growing volume of databases means that technical demands are increasing, both on the equipment and on the programs used to carry it out.