What are the applications of DNA or RNA pattern matching?
One useful application of pattern matching is for DNA sequence motifs. As an example of a direct application, there is a class of proteins called transcription factors (TFs), which bind to DNA and regulate the expression of genes. There are many TFs. Each TF likes to bind to its particular conserved sequence of DNA, with some wiggle room for some parts of the sequence.
Algorithms for finding and scoring these patterns (and mismatches in patterns) is important for identifying regions where regulation occurs, which proteins are involved, and for answering biological questions related to gene regulation and basic biological functionality — and malfunction, in case of disease.