A lot of research has gone into understanding the composition and nature of proteins; yet, many things remain to be understood satisfactorily. It is now generally believed that amino acid sequences of proteins are not random.

With association rules, it is possible to identify associations between different amino acids that are present in a protein. A protein is a sequence made up of 20 types of amino acids. Each protein has a unique three-dimensional structure, which depends on the amino-acid sequence; a slight change in the sequence may change the functioning of protein. To apply association rules, a protein corresponds to a transaction, while amino acids and their structure correspond to the items.

Such association rules are desirable for enhancing our understanding of protein composition and hold the potential to give clues regarding the global interactions among some particular sets of amino acids occurring in the proteins. Knowledge of these association rules or constraints is highly desirable for the synthesis of artificial proteins.